by Isaac Hooke
From her storage device she retrieved the parts for another complete spacesuit, secured in a tight bundle so they wouldn’t use up multiple inventory slots, and gave it to him. Tane stuffed the suit into his pouch.
“Let’s get inside the shuttle,” Lyra said.
Tane followed her up the ramp and into the cabin. Four seats filled up the interior, facing one another in pairs of two. Tane sat beside Lyra while Jed perched opposite him. As usual, the Bander wasn’t wearing a spacesuit: instead the helmet of his power armor had extended to cover his head. The runes of Essence enhancement glowed all along the surface of his armor, the metal skin swirling with colors and occasionally blending into the seat so that Jed appeared to vanish.
A locking clamp secured Tane in place. He glanced toward the left, where the cockpit would be, and was met by a blank wall.
“No cockpit?” Tane asked.
“This model of shuttle doesn’t offer manual control,” Lyra said. “It’s all AI operated.”
Tane received a comm link request from the shuttle, and accepted.
“Welcome aboard!” a deep male voice said. “Welcome aboard the Grizzly Cub. I’m your host, the Cub himself.”
“This is a shared band,” Lyra said. “We’ve got Nebb online as well.”
“Guess we can’t talk behind your back anymore, huh Nebb?” Tane said.
“Actually, it’s we who’ve been talking behind your back all this time, until you came on,” Nebb said over the comm.
“Oh.”
A few minutes later Nebb announced from the cockpit: “All right, we’re making the jump. Stand by.”
Even though he was aboard a shuttle, Tane still heard the characteristic humming that came with every jump. It grew in volume, and he felt the usual nausea. Actually, not just the usual... it seemed worse this time, and as the seconds passed, he felt like he was going to black out.
And then just like that the sound cut out, and along with it, the nausea.
“Why does jumping always make me feel sick?” Tane said.
“It’s the feedback loop caused by such a massive amount of Essence traveling through the hull,” Lyra said. “It’s something only Essenceworkers like you and myself feel.”
Ah. Another hint that I could Siphon all this time.
“It was worse this time,” Tane insisted.
“It depends on the skill of the jump specialist,” Lyra said. “If he’s not very good, and has to keep readjusting the destination endpoint until he latches onto the correct system, then you’ll experience what we just felt.” Her eyes defocused. “So, do we have her position?”
“We’re in Iridium system,” Nebb said over the comm. “Grizz, tell our client what we’ve got.”
“I’m reading a heat signature in orbit around Iridium III,” Grizz said over the shared channel. “It’s about two hundred thousand kilometers from the uninhabitable rock planet IS-A-3, or Remus. It matches up with a human corvette class, Harbinger model.”
“Ah yes, there she is,” Nebb said. “Forty million kilometers off our prow. The Harbingers are powerful ships. One of the few non-military corvette classes out there, though with the same armaments as the TSN. Disruptors. Lances. You name it. The Red Grizzly is no match for her, of course.”
“What about Sinive?” Lyra said.
“I’m not reading Sinive’s tracker,” Grizz said. “If that is indeed the ship that took her here, and if she’s aboard, the tracking device has been disabled.”
“So what do you want to do?” Nebb said. “If you launch now, you can reach the ship in a few hours.”
“Has the ship reacted yet?” Lyra asked.
“No,” Nebb said. “Light from the Red Grizzly won’t arrive for another two minutes.”
“What else do we have in the system?” Lyra asked.
“We’ve got a few freighters and haulers in the asteroid belt, as expected,” Grizz said. “And a mercenary ship pulling security. Also corvette class.”
“What about the inner planet containing the research outpost?” Lyra asked.
“It’s still present,” Grizz said. “We’ve also got a small space station in orbit there, along with a tiny elixir class research vessel.”
“All right,” Lyra said. “The inner vessels I’m not too worried about. But a corvette class mercenary pulling security near the asteroids? That’s worrisome.”
“You think the dwellers got their ship from here?” Jed said.
“That’s what has me worried,” Lyra said. “Because if so, it’s possible both corvettes are manned by dwellers. And maybe those freighters. Nebb, get in touch with those ships in the asteroid belt, and the research vessel. ASAP.”
“On it,” Nebb said. “Though because of the distance I won’t hear back from the closest of them for at least twenty minutes.”
“That’s fine,” Lyra said. “Meanwhile, I want you to prepare to take us to within an hour of the corvette that’s orbiting Iridium III. That ship is our ‘best guess’ target for the time being. And considering the Red Grizzly can move much faster than your ladybug shuttle...”
“Wait, you want to move to within an hour away for the Red Grizzly?” Nebb said. “Or an hour away for the shuttle?”
“The shuttle,” Lyra said.
“Mmm,” Nebb said. “That’s a bit close for my liking. That’s almost at the cusp of Essence disruptor range. I told you I don’t want to put the Red Grizzly at risk.”
“You’ll be safe at that range,” Lyra said. “Set a course. But don’t engage just yet. I want to see how they react when they realize we’re here.”
Lyra waited five minutes.
“Nebb, anything?” Lyra said.
“The corvette in orbit around Iridium III still isn’t responding to our presence,” Nebb said.
“All right, engage the engines and start us on course for Iridium III,” Lyra said. “And let me know when the ships you’ve contacted answer.”
“What are we supposed to do in the meantime?” Tane said. “Sit here in the shuttle?”
“If you want to doff that spacesuit, only to have to put it on again half an hour from now, feel free,” Jed said.
“No, it’s just, my nerves...” Tane said.
“I understand,” Jed said. “The time before a battle starts is always the hardest. Do your best to hang in there.”
Fifteen minutes later Nebb spoke over the comm. “So far I’ve heard back from the mercenary corvette at the asteroids, and one of the freighters. Video feeds. They tell me that everything has been relatively quiet out here. They say the corvette appeared a couple of days ago, and refused all attempts at communications. The vessel has kept close to Iridium III, so they assumed it was doing research of some kind. They did in fact report the vessel to the TSN, using the postal node in this system, but no ships have come to investigate as of yet.”
“Can we be sure the transmissions you received from these ships were real?” Lyra asked.
“The encryption keys were valid,” Nebb said. “And the video synced up with the audio. I have no reason to disbelieve them.”
“Except that all of that can be spoofed by someone who knows what they’re doing,” Lyra said.
“True enough,” Nebb said. “But the question is, do the aliens have that ability?”
“If they’ve commandeered a human ship, and avoided detection in plain sight all this time, I would say there’s a good chance they do,” Lyra said. “Keep an eye on all the other human ships in the system, and let me know the instant any of them changes course.”
“Will do,” Nebb said.
A few minutes later Nebb’s voice came over the comm again.
“Okay, I’ve heard back from all the other ships now,” Nebb said. “They’ve got the same story as the mercenary and freighter. The corvette arrived, and hasn’t responded to anyone.”
“Thank you,” Lyra said. “Have you picked up Sinive’s signal yet?”
“That’s a negative,” Nebb said.
Maybe ten minutes passed before Nebb spoke again.
“All right, got some good news, and some bad news,” Nebb said.
“Good news first,” Lyra said.
“I’m finally picking up Sinive’s signal,” Nebb said.
“And what’s the bad news?” Lyra asked.
“It’s emanating from an alien ship.” Nebb replied. “Dweller.”
“Where did it come from?” Lyra said.
“It was hiding behind Remus,” Nebb said. “Along with three other vessels. These are the same ships that chased us into the rift in the Dhoulan system, I think. Have a look at the visuals.”
Tane received a video request over the comm and accepted. He enlarged the video to fill up his HUD; it was a feed from an external camera, currently zoomed in on four starships set against the backdrop of space. Tane recognized the three dark, pincer-shaped vessels, and the fourth shaped like a long, hooked bill. Dwellers.
“It’s them, all right,” Lyra said.
“They chose this system well,” Nebb said. “There are no rifts for us to escape through this time.”
“No, there aren’t,” Lyra agreed. “Which one is Sinive’s signature coming from?”
“The bigger, hook-shaped vessel.”
“I figured as much,” Lyra said.
“Why?” Tane said.
Lyra glanced at him. “That’ll be the hardest ship for us to navigate internally, in terms of the enemy resistance we’ll face.”
“Great news,” Tane quipped.
“Yes,” Lyra said.
“All four alien ships are on an intercept course with the Red Grizzly,” Grizz said. “The human corvette near them is accelerating... it appears the vessel is on the same trajectory, and intends to join them.”
“I’m reversing the course of the Red Grizzly,” Nebb said.
“It won’t help,” the ship’s AI said. “They’ll still be gaining on us.”
“I know,” Nebb said. “It’s looking like I’ll be jumping out of this system a whole lot sooner.”
“Then we better get out there and draw them away ASAP,” Lyra said.
“Probably a good idea,” Nebb said. “Wait, I’m receiving a message from the human ship.”
“Let’s hear it,” Lyra said.
A voice came over the comm. Or rather, a series of voices. Tane was reminded of the dwellers that had spoken to him at the farm and the hospital—the sentences were formed from a patchwork of words spoken by a broad spectrum of human speakers.
“You have come to surrender the human known as Tane Ganeth?”
“Tell them we have,” Lyra said. “How long will it take our response to reach them?”
“At our current range, only a minute,” Nebb said. “And another minute for the reply to come.”
Two minutes later Nebb spoke over the comm again. “All right, so the aliens sent two words back: ‘very good.’ That’s it.”
“Tell them we’re launching a shuttle containing the human they want,” Lyra said.
“Done,” Nebb said.
She cleared her throat. “All right then, let’s get this rescue started.”
“For what it’s worth, good luck,” Nebb said.
“Coming from you, not much at all,” Tane told him over the comm.
“Thanks kid,” Nebb said. “If you were in the same room with me right now, you’d see me giving you a certain obscene gesture.”
“Shuttle AI, vent all air from the hangar bay and take us out,” Lyra ordered.
“Venting hangar bar air,” the deep male voice of the shuttle came over the comm.
Tane felt the deck momentarily vibrate.
“Hangar bay is vented,” the shuttle said. “Opening bay doors. Activating engines.”
Tane heard a humming sound, and realized there must have still been atmosphere in the cabin for the noise to be picked up by the external microphones of his helmet.
“Engaging artificial gravity,” Cub said. “And taking off.”
The deck shook once more, followed by calm. His stomach lurched slightly, and he realized the inertial dampeners had kicked in.
“Grizzly Cub is away,” the shuttle said.
“Set a course for the alien ships,” Lyra said. “Target the big one.”
“Targeting the big alien ship,” the shuttle said.
“Nebb, place the Red Grizzly on a perpendicular course to our own,” Lyra said. “I want to give you as much breathing room as possible, so as not to give you an excuse to abandon us just yet.”
There was a slight delay before his response: “Mighty fine of you. And don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the gesture. But I’m not sure it’s going to help.”
“Cub, grant me access to your tactical display,” Lyra said. “And do the same for Jed.”
“Me too?” Tane asked.
A message appeared on Tane’s HUD.
Authorization denied.
Too bad.
The tense moments ticked past.
The voice of Grizz came over the comm. The words were slightly distorted. “The ships near the asteroid belt are powering up their jump drives.”
“So they finally picked up the thermal signatures of the aliens,” Nebb commented, his voice also digitally warping.
“Two freighters just jumped out of the system,” Grizz said. “I’m also detecting a shuttle traveling from the surface of the tidally locked Mercury equivalent, heading toward the research ship.” The AI paused. “The mercenary corvette, and the remaining vessels in the asteroid belt have also fled.”
“That’s typical miner courage there for ya,” Nebb said.
Another minute passed.
“The shuttle docked with the research ship, and the latter vessel just jumped out,” Grizz intoned. “That makes the last of the human ships. Discounting the Harbinger model corvette…”
“So none of the others harbored aliens after all,” Tane said.
“One less thing to worry about,” Lyra told him.
Nebb spoke after a few seconds. “The TSN will be making an appearance shortly I’m sure, especially when the local military offices start receiving frantic communications requests from freight captains who claim they’ve witnessed alien vessels. Things might get interesting. Too bad I probably won’t be around to watch any of it.”
“Yes,” Lyra said. “Speaking of which, you’re almost out of comm range.”
On the “friends” area of Tane’s HUD, Nebb moved to the offline column. The shuttle and the Red Grizzly were too far apart for realtime communications.
“Three of the enemy are pursuing us,” Jed said. “Including the hook ship.”
“I see it,” Lyra replied.
“But the fourth alien ship and the human ship are both continuing on an intercept course for the Red Grizzly.”
“Damn,” Lyra said. “Forcing him away. We’re going to lose him, I’m afraid.”
“Maybe that’s what the aliens want,” Jed said.
“That would be a good supposition,” Lyra told her.
Sure enough, twenty minutes later Nebb sent a transmission: “They’re getting too close. Sorry people, I’m going to have to bail. Good luck to you. It has been a pleasure serving you for as long as it lasted. Send my regards to Sinive if you ever find her.”
A moment later the shuttle announced: “The Red Grizzly has jumped.”
“And now we’re truly on our own,” Lyra said.
“I just thought of something,” Tane said. “What’s to stop the alien vessel from jumping once we’re aboard?”
“Nothing,” Lyra said. “In fact, they probably will jump, if only to escape the TSN’s coming warships.”
“So if we’re successful, and escape with Sinive, we might find ourselves in a different system?” Tane said. “One potentially uninhabited? Without a jump drive of our own?”
“Yes,” Lyra said. “Or worse, the dwellers might jump to a system containing a rift, and go inside. Then when we emerge, we’ll find ourselves in the Umbra.
Also without a jump drive.”
The rescue was starting to sound like a very bad idea.
28
Tane’s hands felt sweaty in his gloves. To distract himself from his downward spiraling thoughts, he concentrated on why he was here. Sinive.
When her name came to mind, he thought of something and glanced at Lyra. “Do we have an exact location aboard for Sinive?”
“No,” Lyra said. “Not at this range. Their hull disperses the signal, making it impossible to pinpoint a spot from here. But I’ve got blueprints of their ship design. Made during the day’s of the war. My best guess is that Sinive will be held in one of the cargo bays. It’s one of the few places they could create an atmosphere compatible with human beings. I’m sending the blueprints your way now, with the cargo bays marked off.”
Tane accepted the share request and pulled up the blueprints. The ship design was definitely alien. The passageways had a lot of sharp, angular bends that turned back upon themselves at two hundred and seventy degree angles. He cycled through the different levels.
“Would your tracker still transmit if she was dead?” Tane asked.
“Yes,” Lyra admitted.
“So we might be doing this all for nothing?” Tane said.
Lyra studied him from behind her faceplate. “We Volur have a code of honor. We never leave behind a friend, no matter the circumstances. Not ever.”
“Sinive is your friend?” Tane said.
“She’s yours,” Lyra said. “And that’s good enough for me.”
Behind her faceplate, the Volur never looked more beautiful than she did in that moment.
The minutes ticked by.
Tane began bobbing his foot up and down nervously. “I don’t know if I’m ready.”
“There is a reason I’ve been training you,” Lyra said.
“To handle whatever the dwellers might throw at me?” Tane said.
“Yes.” She hesitated. “And, well... never mind.”
“No tell me,” Tane said.
“I don’t want to scare you,” Lyra said.
“Trust me, I can’t be more afraid then I already am,” Tane said.
“There might be Amaranth aboard,” Lyra said.
“Amaranth?”
“The dweller counterpart to us Volur,” Lyra said. “Capable of wielding their Dark Essence with equivalent levels of skill and intensity. If we find them, leave them to me.”