“I don’t—I don’t know. I just—doesn’t it seem like that, to you?”
“Perhaps,” the captain said.
“I don’t know.” Evie tapped her fingers against the table. Her mind whirred. “Especially since what we experienced was real. Isn’t that the kind of effect that can happen if there’s a slipspace drive failure?” Her heart was pounding. She wished she had paid more attention in her physics classes, but she’d always been more interested in running code to fix problems than unraveling the theoretical fabric of reality. However, she had read something once about failures with slipspace drives that sounded similar to what she had experienced in the structure. Slipspace was a compressed dimension of reality that was used by starships for faster-than-light travel, but it wasn’t as precise or as safe as humanity would have preferred. Was their experience connected to slipspace—a kind of breakdown of the physical world at a molecular level?
“You think we went into slipspace?” Dorian asked.
“No,” Saskia said. “We couldn’t have. It would have been much more dangerous. Right?” She looked at the scientists for confirmation.
“Absolutely,” said Dr. Chapman. “And your experiences don’t quite line up with the experiences of entering slipspace directly.”
“That’s what I thought. But I do think—” She looked up and met Evie’s eye. “I think the device is interacting with slipspace somehow. And that changed our reality.”
“How is that even possible?” Victor said.
“It’s alien tech,” Evie responded. “I think Saskia might be right. I think we—”
Made a huge mistake. She kept her mouth shut.
Saskia leaned forward, her face twisted in concentration. “We talked about this in Mrs. Veitola’s class. I remember. There’s a process that molecules can go through, where they change—it’s tied into slipspace somehow. Dammit!” She shook her head. “I spent hours cramming for that test.”
“I remember that,” Victor said. “It’s a chemical process. It’s supposed to be slow, though. It takes millennia.”
“You’re talking about Kulpinski’s theorem,” interrupted Dr. Chapman, his voice brimming with excitement. “That may not be totally relevant here, but the notion of changing molecules—” He turned away from the meeting, asked, “You’re getting all this down, right?” to someone out of view.
“This has been a fascinating physics lesson,” Captain Dellatorre said. “But I think we need to get away from the theoretical for the sake of time. What would be the purpose of such a device? One that could change molecules?”
“We would need more information before we could even begin to guess at something like that,” Dr. Salo said. “Perhaps the Forerunners used it for travel, or—”
“Or as a weapon?” Captain Dellatorre raised an eyebrow. The whole room went quiet. “Frankly, we aren’t concerned with what the Forerunners used the tech for. The Covenant want this thing. Clearly, they were unable to make it work without the Brume-sur-Mer artifact, and likely can’t even access it, which gives us the upper hand. But we have to ask ourselves what the Covenant would want with such technology.” She paused. Static ran through her holo. “We have to assume they’d be using it as a weapon.”
A weight dropped in Evie’s stomach. The blood rushed through her ears. A weapon. Of course. They’d been able to turn something about it on and off inside that structure. A power like that was unimaginable.
And in the hands of the Covenant?
“If they found a way to harness whatever happened in that room …” Victor said slowly, “they wouldn’t have to glass Meridian. They could do something so much worse. Tear it apart, or—”
“Not just Meridian,” Dorian said. “Any world in the galaxy. They could do whatever the hell they wanted to the entire human race.” He laughed bitterly. “No more war, right? Just shift molecules around until we never even existed.”
Captain Dellatorre gazed out at them from her holo. “This is worse than we feared.”
“So extract us!” Evie shouted, forgetting all protocol. “And the artifact. They can’t activate it unless they have the artifact.”
“For now,” Owen said. “There’s no reason to think they aren’t working on some other means of activation.”
“Then what are we supposed to do?” Evie cried.
“It’s a bit premature to assume that this structure could be used as a weapon in its current state,” Dr. Faraday said. “Most recovered Forerunner technology had strictly utilitarian use, and this technology more than likely restricted the structure itself for some enigmatically practical purpose. The real risk is that the Covenant would find a way to leverage the technology and weaponize it, as the captain mentioned. There’s only one way to know if they can.”
“We need to be able to study the structure,” the captain said, her voice unwavering and calm in the surge of panic filling up the room. “Owen, do you think it would be possible for us to secure the activation device in the structure itself?”
“And a piece of the structure’s wall,” added Dr. Chapman. “If it is a containment room.”
Owen frowned. “The activation device, possibly—it appeared to be separate from the building itself, and should be removable. As for the walls—” He shook his head apologetically at the scientists. “I can’t promise that.”
“Please try,” Dr. Chapman said, and the other two nodded in agreement.
“Very well,” said Captain Dellatorre. “Get us the activation device, the artifact from Brume-sur-Mer, and attempt to retrieve a piece of the structure’s wall. We are working on a plan of extraction—hopefully we should have an entry point within three days. That doesn’t give you much time.”
“Then it’s true,” Dorian said suddenly. “Meridian … it can’t be saved.”
He didn’t sound angry or upset, only resigned. The truth of what this meant for humanity was etched on his face. “It’s over once we take the Covenant’s super-weapon away. But if we don’t take it—”
Captain Dellatorre ignored the breach of protocol. “Spartan-B096, please notify us when preparations are complete. Dismissed.” The holo-light disappeared, casting them in half darkness.
Owen turned to the group. “You all have had to grow up fast these last three months, I know. I’m sorry that had to happen and I’m sorry for the people you’ve lost.” He zeroed in on Dorian, who glanced away. “But I told you, this war extends beyond the fate of one people, one world. This is about preventing our own extinction. The Covenant will stop at nothing to wipe out every colony until there’s nothing left of our species. If they find a way to use the technology in that structure, the last twenty-five years of fighting will be for nothing.” He paused, looking over the group. “We cannot let this power fall into the hands of the Covenant.”
We have to do that again?” asked Caird.
Owen shifted uncomfortably, his armor swallowing the flicker of firelight. The heater they’d been using had finally died, and one of the soldiers from Caernaruan built an actual fire with debris from the inside of the transport center building. Smoke rose up in a thin white line through the starry gap in the ceiling, bleeding out into the cold night air.
“Yes,” he said.
Groans went up from the militia, grumbled complaints and strings of creative profanity. Only Local Team stayed quiet. Saskia didn’t know about the others, but she couldn’t get the debriefing with Daniella out of her head. The activation key for a potential super-weapon had been buried beneath Brume-sur-Mer for millennia. Entire lives had played out on top of it, no one ever the wiser.
She was grateful that her parents hadn’t known.
“The kids almost died last time,” said Kielawa. “They came back here looking like they were infected with a damn plague virus. Now you want to saw off a piece of that building and put it on a ship with us?”
“The sickness wasn’t spread through infection,” Evie said.
“Yeah?” Kielawa shot back. “You sure about
that? You been tested?”
Evie scowled and wrapped her arms around her chest.
Saskia patted her gently on the shoulder. “It’s fine,” she whispered. “Nobody thinks we’re infected with anything. I mean, they’re sitting with us.”
“She’s kind of right,” Evie said.
Saskia frowned. Another thought she didn’t want to have.
“It’s not just the artifact that’s the problem,” Caird said. “The Covenant had that place on lockdown last time. And they had a Prophet there, so they gotta be serious about getting that thing. Whatever we go back to, it’ll be worse than last time. And they’ll be ready for us.”
“Understood, but those artifact samples could be the key to ensuring humanity’s survival,” Owen said grimly. “The best thing we can do here is come up with a plan that will keep us as safe as possible when we extract them. Farhi, what’s the status on supplies?”
Farhi strode up beside the fire, sighing. She pushed her greasy, dark hair away from her face. “Not great,” she said. “Weapons are all in working order, but we’re running low on ammunition, which means another shootout like a few days ago probably isn’t going to work.”
This elicited more groans. “At least we know that works,” someone muttered.
“Food rations are running low, which is why it’s a good thing ONI’s extracting us. We’ve still got the Warthog, some miscellaneous supplies we’ve scavenged. Nothing great. We’re working with leftovers here.”
Owen sighed. “I see.”
“There’s no way ONI can send a care package?” someone asked.
Owen shook his head. “They can’t get through. All the focus is on getting ready for extraction.”
“Nothing will be left to extract if we’re dead,” Kielawa murmured, turning away.
At that, the grumbling started up again. Saskia leaned her head against Evie’s shoulder. She was suddenly very tired.
“I feel like they don’t understand what’s at stake,” Evie muttered.
“They didn’t see it,” Saskia said. “And it’s not something that’s that easy to explain either.”
“They want to get home, though,” Dorian said. “That’s enough of a motivation for most people.”
Farhi clapped her hands together. “Enough!” she shouted. “We’ve got to work together on this.” She sighed. “You know what we’re up against. We’ve got to be clever. Owen? What’s the plan?”
Owen nodded. “First things first: I will be leading the excavation, along with Local Team. They’ve actually been in the structure, so we’ll let them continue that mission. We were lucky last time, when we made it past those Elites stationed around the site. We weren’t carrying equipment either. We need to dispatch with any guards as quickly as possible.”
A murmur of assent went up from the crowd. Saskia thought about the terror of racing across that vast empty space, hooking onto Evie’s leg so they could be pulled into the structure. It had all happened so fast she had barely been aware of the battle going on around her.
“Our best bet is to utilize the Warthog,” Dubois called out. “Drive straight into the area, firing from the turret. We’ve still got plenty of ammunition for that, at least.”
Farhi pointed at him. “Good call.”
“We’ve got that civilian fuel cart too,” Dorian said. “Remember, we saw it sitting out on the landing pad? It’ll get us an explosion.”
Dubois laughed a little. “Is it always explosions with you?” he asked.
“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
“That’s actually a good idea,” Owen said. “Set a fire. Control it so our excavation team can make it through.” He paused. “This is a transport center. There must be fire suppressant around here somewhere.”
“Yeah, there is,” Farhi said. “Caird grabbed it before she made this thing.” She kicked at the fire crackling at his feet. “Pretty good stash, if I remember correctly, right, Caird?”
“Great stash,” she said.
“Good.” Owen pointed at her. “You’re going to be in charge of building this fire. It’s going to be a barrier between us and the Covenant. Make a team to help you.”
Caird saluted.
“The rest of you will help corral the Covenant forces where we need them, and watch out for aerial attacks.”
All of this was sounding more and more familiar to Saskia. In fact, it sounded an awful lot like a pitch she’d heard her parents give a pair of suspicious-looking clients. Those clients had been interested in subterfuge too, under limited resources. And what was it her parents had told them?
“Smoke!” she cried out, remembering. “The smoke can help mask us.”
“She’s right,” Caird said. “If we can get a smoking agent in that fuel, it’ll make it harder for the Covenant air to know what’s happening on the ground—their Banshees won’t be able to see what’s happening on the ground. It does mean we’ll have to be careful, though. Don’t want any of us passing out.”
“Of course not.” Owen surveyed the militia, what little remained of it. “The next question is the matter of actually securing the artifacts. This is Forerunner technology, which introduces some … complications. The most significant of which is that it’s designed to last for millennia.”
Several people groaned in frustration. “Now you tell us …” someone muttered behind Saskia.
Owen held up one hand. “That’s not to say this is impossible. One thing that’s working to our benefit is that the structure let us in, but not the Covenant. Why that’s the case isn’t clear, but it does mean that we’ll have time on our side.”
“Acknowledged, but we still won’t necessarily be able to carve out a chunk of the wall,” Farhi said.
“True,” Owen said. “Which brings me to my second point. Given the age of this structure and how advanced the race is that made it, it’s likely that most natural phenomena will not damage a Forerunner installation like this one. And that means there’s a real possibility that we won’t be able to burn it, freeze it, or even blow it up. However, it is likely that some parts of the structure are designed to be extractable. At the very least, we might be able to cut some parts loose if they are embedded in natural material, which isn’t uncommon given what we’ve seen. So we need to get creative. We need to find our strongest tools. Pull from our own supplies, see what we can scavenge. I’ve still got the Covenant energy sword, and there must be some devices used by this transport center that could help.” He folded his arms. “Any thoughts?”
For a moment, everyone was quiet. Then Kielawa called out, “I have my medical kit with me. There’s a bone saw in it, with a precision laser blade. Can’t promise anything, but—”
“No, that’s good. What else?”
“We found a tension steel cutter in the garage out back,” Caird said. “It’s got a gravitic binder for tearing through starship hulls. Must have belonged to the station’s rescue crew.”
“That will work well if the Forerunner structure cooperates,” Owen nodded. “We’re lucky we found this place. It might just be the advantage we need to get this job done.”
Slowly, the militia began shouting out suggestions—the various knives and tools they’d managed to bring with them or devices they’d found throughout the transport center and in the town below. Saskia felt a surge of pride that they were coming up with a plan of action so quickly. They would have to actually implement the plan, of course, which was a different task altogether. But still. It was going more smoothly than she had thought.
She just hoped the rest of the mission would as well.
Saskia jerked awake, her heart thudding. We’re under attack, she thought. They’ve found us.
“Rise and shine, sweetheart.” Valois leaned over her, grinning wildly. “Call just came down from ONI. They’ve got an extraction path cleared.”
“What?” Saskia sat up, but Valois was already moving down the line, shaking people awake one by one. She looked over at Evie, who was ru
bbing the sleep out of her eyes. “I thought it was going to be in three days?”
“Guess not,” said Victor. “Looks like we’re finally getting back to the base.”
“But we’ve barely figured out what we’re going to do,” Saskia said. “We haven’t had time to scout or prep properly—”
“Probably not a lot we can do to prepare now anyway, right?” Evie asked. “We know what it looks like down there. We know there’s a Covenant presence. We know what we’re grabbing.” She gave a small, shaky smile, and Saskia knew she was terrified too.
They actually had a plan—a really good one, even, and one that the Covenant wouldn’t be expecting. But what worried Saskia was the possibility of what the Covenant might have done to prepare since their last run-in. For all the militia knew, there could be a whole Covenant fleet around the structure now, and it wouldn’t matter what kind of plan they had come up with.
“Pack up!” shouted Farhi as she strolled through the transport center. “Take what you need! Leave what you don’t! We’ll be heading straight to the extraction point as soon as the mission is complete. We’ve got a window, and once it closes, it may not open again. Ever.”
Saskia stood up and shook out the last of her sleepiness. She grabbed her rifle and the remaining ammunition. She was going to have to make it last this morning.
They met up outside, in the usual place. A thin line of pale pink dawn light appeared on the horizon, making the lines of everything seem soft and indistinct. They were already dividing themselves up into their teams: the firebugs next to the fuel cart; the corallers over by the Warthog; and the excavators. Local Team. In addition to the assortment of knives, ropes, and field materials the soldiers had scrounged up from their own supplies, there was a bundle of civilian tools that had been scavenged from the transport center: an instacrete jack, a construction-grade laser, and the tension steel cutter Caird mentioned. They also managed to find a transport cart for the sculpture, which was good, since they didn’t know how heavy it would actually be. Who knew if any of these things would be useful in the end? But it was all they had on hand, and Saskia told herself it would be enough.
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