Althea nodded. This time she could not stop a few tears creeping down her face.
Isra didn’t say anything at first. She wandered off to some corner of the armory. Triple-T. Viekko Spade was raged out on Triple-T and Althea not only knew about it, but facilitated it. Deep down, Isra knew it too. Maybe not the specifics, but she knew there was a secret that had the potential to leave everything she worked for smoldering in their wake.
“How long?” asked Isra, not looking at Althea. “How long have you known?”
Althea looked down at Viekko. “Since that first day when he started lapsing into a dissociative state. I suspected something immediately but couldn’t prove it until—”
Althea kept talking but Isra didn’t hear her. At that moment, Isra realized she didn’t care what Althea was about to say. Althea, Viekko, Cronus—they were all operating according to their own whims and, as a result, her mission was completely tanked. She felt a surge of anger rush through her and, instead of repressing it, she decided to let it work for her.
While Althea was still talking, Isra grabbed a tool chest and threw it to the ground. Equipment and supplies spilled across the floor with a crash. She grabbed an upright supply chest and slammed it to the floor. A whole rack of tools next. After that, things were just a blur of destruction. Every piece of equipment smashed to bits just drove her on. There was something liberating about letting go and letting her emotions take over. But she soon ran out of objects in her immediate vicinity to destroy. She took a few deep breaths to collect herself. Althea and Cronus were staring at her as if she’d completely lost her sense. That was good because there was a fair chance that she had.
She grabbed a chair and pulled it over to Cronus. He backed up against the wall, putting as much distance between her and him as possible.
Isra sat down, put her head in her hands and muttered for a few seconds, then looked up at Cronus and said, “You have no idea how sad this statement makes me, but you are the only human I can trust on this moon.”
Cronus's mouth gaped open.
Isra shook her head. “Do not get excited; my options are poor at best. But before we go any farther: truth time. Right here, right now. Convince me that this plan of yours can work. How are we supposed to activate the screens? I doubt very much that we can just set up a signal here and be done with it.”
Cronus kept his back pinned against the wall. “You would be correct. The Transplanetary Energy Corporation was extremely concerned about outside interference. You need the right modulation. A code in the waves. Fortunately, people are creatures of habit. The modulation the Corporation uses is similar. It will only require a minor alteration for the system to accept it as genuine.”
“And how does that help us?” said Isra slowly. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to like the answer.
“The same way I hid information aboard Innovation. I take control of their relay station and use it to rebroadcast.”
Isra tensed. “You mean the same way Laban got his hands on the refinery plans in the first place. What’s to keep him from finding out what we are doing?”
Cronus's face twisted in thought. “He won’t be expecting it. He is not tuned to the Signal. We can move like shadows through the data.”
Isra got up and paced. “It is not good, but it is a start. So what do we need for that to happen? Can we find the needed equipment here?”
Cronus looked at his shoes. “That’s where the plan gets complicated. I will need to be in the pyramid to route the signal to the proper sources. It will take time and I will need to remain undisturbed.”
Isra clenched her teeth. “And not easy with the Houston’s army patrolling the city looking for anything threatening. To say nothing of the Venganto. We will die six times before we get anywhere near the city.”
Althea stood. “Those screens in the city are ancient, installed before the Fall over a thousand years ago. How do you know they will even work?”
Cronus's eyes flashed back and forth between the two women and he kept his back to the wall. “The screens in the city are fine. Graphene-based alloys with sub-molecular transistors built into the material itself. Their durability made them a popular choice when Earth civilization expanded to the planets and moons. Most will still work so long as they have power. That will be the difficult part. The power systems in the city are a disaster.”
Isra raised her head. “Disaster? How so? Can it be fixed?”
Cronus glanced at Althea. “Some paths are better than others. We must route the power through a specific path. There’s a substation not far and some energy left in various capacitors around the city. They are unused at the moment, but I can reroute it as I need to.”
Isra looked at her team, or what remained of it. It would be a challenge to complete Cronus's tasks if everyone was at peak performance. Exhausted and one person down, it struck Isra as impossible. She shook her head. “Not going to happen. We would never even get into the city much less the pyramid and we could not hold it if we did. There has got to be another way to get the message into the cities.”
Cronus closed his eyes in thought, but the answer came from the other direction.
“Halifaco,” said Althea. “He’s the only person left on the planet who’s got enough people. He could draw out the Houston’s army long enough for us to do what Cronus wants.”
Isra stood. “I do not know if he will help us. But he still has a radio. We could ask.”
Cronus pulled up the sleeve and started tapping on the screen. “Halifaco. Halifaco, this is Cronus. If you can hear me, respond. It is an emergency.”
Isra paced as she watched Cronus. “Not picking up?”
Cronus looked down at the screen. “He is not. And no signal on the satellite locator. He either can’t hear us or does not wish to be found.”
“The derelict,” said Althea. “It’s a fair bet he would go there and, even if he didn’t, someone there might know where he is. Besides, we need the Perfiduloi, not Halifaco per se. That is where the center of their society is.”
Isra sat back in a chair and shook her head. “There is sixty kilos of jungle and flying death from above between us and him. How do we get there?”
The room fell silent as the realization of what was in between them and Halifaco’s derelict ship sunk into their minds.
Cronus was the first to speak. “Viekko said the Venganto were human.”
Althea shook her head. “He was delirious. Who knows why he was saying that.”
“But let’s assume that he saw something that proves that. It is the most logical explanation after all,” said Cronus. “What is the alternative? That some alien race was either found or developed here that has the ability to fly, spit fire, and see in the dark?”
“But how could they be human?” asked Althea. “If you could fly by just strapping wings to your arms and flapping away, we’d not need to develop the machines to carry us through the sky.”
Cronus started to answer but Isra cut in. “You cannot on Earth, but on Titan…”
Cronus beamed like a teacher whose students just grasped an important concept. “Exactly right. Titan has lower gravity, a thicker atmosphere, and more oxygen for strenuous activity. Humans cannot fly under their own power on Earth. But Titan is different for many reasons.”
Isra sat down and squinted at Cronus, “Okay, so how does that help us?”
“If they are human, then they are using technology to accomplish their superhuman feats. Technology can be exploited. For example…” Cronus got up and went to the work bench. He found a gun about as long as his arms and designed to fire some sort of large cartridge. “Night vision can be easily compromised by sudden, bright lights. They cannot compensate as well as the human eye.”
Isra got up and took the gun from Cronus, “A flare gun?”
“It should be enough,” said Cronus matter-of-factly. “It will disorient them and make us harder to track.”
�
�What if you’re wrong?” asked Althea. “What if they are using something else or have some innate ability to see in the dark?”
Isra loaded a flare cartridge into the chamber. “Only one way to find out.”
She crept to the door of the shelter and opened it a crack. There were four Venganto circling overhead, possibly waiting for some helpless person to try and escape. She stepped out into the open and, sure enough, the flying creatures stopped their slow circle and started to converge on her position.
She aimed the flare gun into the air and fired. The cartridge flew high into the air where it burst into a brilliant white light. For a couple seconds, the sky was so bright she could clearly make out the bark on the trees and the footprints in the mud. Isra had to look away from the blast itself.
When the sky was dark again, the Venganto were nowhere to be seen.
Isra went back into the armory, “Grab all the cartridges you can and find some way to carry Viekko. If this is going to work, we have got to move while we have the chance.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
The Alliances that allowed the governments of Earth to beat back the encroaching Corporate armies dissolved in a few years. New friendships gave way to ancient hatreds and hundreds of wars over the smoldering ruins of Earth were fought. A battered and desperate Corporation found new hope for life. Deals could be made. Allies could be turned on each other.
One by one formerly independent territories were brought to heel, not with bullets and bombs, but with one backroom deal after another.
-from The Fall: The Decline and Failure of 21st Century Civilization by Martin Raffe.
Isra crouched behind a fallen tree just at the edge of the clearing that contained the derelict ship the Perfiduloi used as a base. Her hands sweated around the grip of the assault rifle she carried. The duffle bag and flare gun slung over her shoulder made muscles in her back ache. Overhead, shadows of the Venganto streaked across the sky lit by the small icy moons and the ringed gas giant. Every few seconds, one of the Venganto dove towards the ship and let a bomb fly. The bombs burst, spilling fire on the hull of the ship or on the ground, but did no real damage. Still, they had a clear effect. Those holed up inside were now a besieged army.
Cronus squatted in the mud just a few meters away and watched the skies with Isra. Althea, carrying Viekko on a makeshift A-frame stretcher, lagged behind. She stopped in a dark patch of forest, set Viekko down, and whispered, “Even in microgravity he’s bloody heavy. How does it look?”
“Not good,” said Cronus. “Venganto watch every move. Every step. And out in the open, we don’t stand a chance. Run, flash, fire, burn, die. That’s it.”
Isra set the assault rifle against the log and pulled the flare gun from her shoulder and cracked open the chamber. “One flare left.”
“Will that be enough?” asked Cronus. “The duration of the average flare is 15.5 seconds. In that time we will need to cross the field get to the ship—”
Isra closed the flare gun. “And hope that there is somebody inside who has the slightest inclination to let us in. Considering that, sooner would be better. Are you ready?”
Cronus stood up and braced himself against the log as if he were intending to vault over it in the most awkward way possible. “Ready.”
Althea steeled herself and picked up the end of Viekko’s stretcher again. “As am I.”
Isra adjusted the bag on her back and raised the flare gun. It was better to go now. Less time for Althea and Cronus to dwell on the possibility that they will get stuck in the field or outside the ship with no means of escaping.
She pulled the trigger. The last cartridge flew and, a couple seconds later, bathed the field in a brilliant white light.
Isra dropped the flare gun and picked up the assault rifle. “Go! Run now!”
Isra vaulted over the fallen log and sprinted across the empty field. She didn’t look back at Althea or Cronus but kept her mind focused on the ruined, ancient spacecraft. As she got closer, she could see a door and she doubled her efforts to reach it. The low gravity combined with her desperation allowed her to clear the distance in a matter of seconds but, by the time she got to the door, the light had started to flicker.
She ran full force into the hatch, banging on the metal and screaming with every breath left in her, “Open up! Malfermita! Dangero! Dangero! Ni en! Let us in!”
Just as quickly as it appeared, the light died. Isra risked a look behind her. Althea was close with Viekko’s stretcher bouncing on the uneven ground so much it was a minor miracle he wasn’t thrown. Cronus was just behind her stumbling and falling with every other step.
The skies were clear but that would be short-lived. Isra resumed banging on the ancient airlock. “Ni en! Ni en! Somebody let us in!”
Fear swept across Isra’s consciousness. Nobody was here. Or, at least, nobody would let them in. Her mind started racing to figure out how they could escape before the Venganto recovered and descended. Then she heard the scrape of metal on metal as somebody on the other side started opening the door.
Overhead, the first shadows of the Venganto appeared. They were close; so close that Isra saw the red light in their eyes. She raised the assault rifle and held down the trigger. It erupted in full-automatic, spraying bullets into the sky.
The door opened just as Althea and Cronus rushed past her and into the safety of the derelict. She continued to fire into the air to buy a few more seconds.
Whoever opened the door screamed words in his native language, “Get in, you will kill us all!”
As the last bullets fired, there was a sharp burst and a flash of heat. A fire bomb exploded on the hull just a couple meters from where she stood. Isra turned and leapt through the open door. The Perfiduloi man slammed it shut as more bombs hit the hull and the hatch.
Isra dropped the bag of weapons, leaned hard against the wall, and slid to the floor, taking the precious few moments to catch her breath. For a few seconds, all anyone did was sit on the floor and collect themselves and listen to the bombs against the hull. Even the man who opened the door for them just stood staring off into space.
The moment of peace ended with heavy footsteps on the metal floor. Isra stood up just as Halifaco appeared around a corner. He was accompanied now by a whole cadre of Perfiduloi warriors carrying Marine assault rifles and an air of cool death. Somehow, against all logic, it looked like he had aged a few years in the hours since Isra had last seen him. At the same time, his face and every muscle had a new intensity. Isra pictured him as a human ballistic missile; unstoppable until he reached his target where he would obliterate everyone including himself.
When he spoke, his voice was monotone and dispassionate. “Why have you returned?”
Isra brushed herself off and adjusted her posture. She spoke his Titanian language. “Halifaco. This thing you plan to do, you need to stop. We can save you and your people, but we will need your help.”
The Perfiduloi around him laughed softly, but Halifaco didn’t even raise an eyebrow, “You help? My people are about to save themselves. Even as we speak, Perfiduloi gather here for the final battle. We will crush the Urbanoi.”
“Please,” Isra pled in his language, “You must listen—”
Halifaco cut her off, “I have listened to outsiders. It has done nothing but lead my people to death. I will not listen again. You have wasted your time coming here.” Halifaco noticed Viekko laying on the ground and spoke in English. “What is wrong with him?”
Althea stood up. “He was hurt fighting the Venganto. He needs a place to lay down. Can we bring him somewhere?”
The Perfiduloi leader sighed. “Come with me.”
Halifaco led them through the tight corridors of the derelict until they arrived in a dark, open space. Judging from the layout and remains, Isra guessed this to be the ship's med bay appropriately enough. There were three tables side-by-side in the center of the room. Each table had metal loops for straps although
those had long since either rotted away or been removed. Metal shelves and cabinets lined the walls but all of them were empty. The only light came from a couple of wooden torches soaked in Titan’s hydrocarbon mixture.
There were a few Perfiduloi in the room sitting on the tables. They sharpened stone knives and spearpoints, chatted or stitched their own wounds. They got up to make way as Althea and Isra brought Viekko in and set him on a table.
Althea place her bag at Viekko’s feet. “I’ll need some more light to work.”
Cronus rooted around in his bag and produced a small white dome. He touched it and it glowed bright enough that they all squinted at the light. He held it up over Viekko, let go and it stayed suspended just above him.
While Althea began her work, Isra set the bag of weapons on a table and went back to stand near Halifaco. He stood watching with the same resolute expression he had when he entered the hallway. Isra started to wonder why he hadn’t just tossed them back out the door or let them stay but left them to their own business. Why did he feel the need to be here himself?
Then Isra caught something in the way Halifaco watched Althea work on Viekko. It was subtle but it was there. Respect, maybe. Admiration. Maybe a touch of longing.
“What do you plan to do?” asked Isra eventually.
Halifaco breathed hard. “We have but one path open to us now. The Venganto will not stop until every one of my people are killed or enslaved. The power of the Urbanoi and the demons lies in the pyramid. I must lead my people into the final battle to destroy it.”
Cronus nearly fell over himself scurrying over. “You…you can’t. You don’t know what you are doing. The last records of The Fall… the voices of the past. There will be nothing left…”
Halifaco regarded the hacker for a moment, “Kompanio demands it. I see that now. It is the only way to free my people.”
“Your people will die,” said Isra.
“Then we will die free,” he said with his voice raising in his native language, “All of us here are prepared. We will finally join our ancestors on Earth, not as slaves but as free men and women.”
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