Star Matters
Page 10
There was consternation in a part of the room to the side. “They are moving to the bridge on level 450, your Highness,” volunteered the group leader of those viewing the bank of screens that were following the progress of the Gayan-led maintenance group.
Amily led Keeran and the small maintenance crew up to the airbridge at level 451 and out on to the bridge among the steady stream of workers on the right side, a counter stream coming in on the left side of the bridge. Keeran tried not to look through the people to the right as there were no visible walls. At this altitude the ground was so far below it looked cartographical. If he dwelt on the thought of the drops to the bridges and steeples below he was in danger of losing his focus on the tactical efficiency he would soon need for the rescue. On loose inspection Amily and Keeran’s group looked inoffensive but they were very conscious that Keeran was an obvious off-worlder on closer inspection despite colouring his hair and eyes. The group as a whole lacked the uniform discipline of Spargar work groups. This was normal for this group as a technical support unit recognised for their particular skill set but their task today was far from normal. They hustled across trying to look as ordinary as was possible despite their fears that Keeran was both noticeable and also the one looking least familiar with the surroundings. Fortunately the Spargar people enjoyed the views by walking along the edge of the bridge and crowded toward it, allowing Keeran to claim the inside track. Here it was quieter and the people on the edges provided a comforting barrier against the lack of a visible protective wall. Some of the people crowding to the edge squashed against the force field when the people flow got busy. Keeran kept away from being pushed into an invisible barrier over the drop. He tried to disguise his reluctance crossing the bridge at all. If he had let his fears loose he would have liked to fall to hands and knees and crawl across if he could.
Three hundred metres or so up and across the slightly arched bridge and they were entering the arch opposite into the southern network tower. This network node was triplicated around The Spyre to provide capacity and redundancy for the network. The network tower was lightly populated away from the bridges, transit paths and elevator tubes as its function was to house the specialised communications of the Mind to the Spargar Network. The group were aware of the constant monitoring of people in the secure areas. They had advance access to the room they required for their maintenance update and went straight up there via the elevator tube and across a deserted atrium. There was no sign of abnormal interest from security. They entered the room and took their seats around a utilitarian meeting table.
While the group were talking convincingly about the details of their maintenance task a completely different conversation was taking place between Amily, Keeran and the other Gayans in the maintenance group. This soul-to-soul conversation was capable of very detailed messaging without the need for verbalisation. It also allowed for pictorial and emotional content to clarify complete understanding of the plan, or lack of plan, to rescue Kyra. Amily used this method to express that this was the limit to which their normal work schemes could explain their proximity to the command tower. Beyond here they would be exposed and unable to show a reason why they were approaching the enormous central tower. She shared her imagination of them trekking across a higher bridge and a force of security workers emerging to confront them.
Keeran accepted Amily’s scenario and showed that they could overcome a small group but he accepted that if they were intercepted far out on the bridge then they would have little chance of gaining entry to the tower and their desperate mission would fail. He showed a scenario whereby they managed to cross the bridge and as long as they could find and free Kyra then beyond that point they could hopefully return as they had come. The worst that could happen would be that they would be in danger of being captured whereupon they could choose to perish and pass through these bodies. This was a sobering thought but still a means of escape ‘either way’. At least if they could free Kyra they could all escape back ‘either way’ to Gaya as freed souls.
The Ghola that had been following the group trailed them to the network meeting room and was waiting invisibly outside knowing that if he came too close to the Gayans, they would at least sense his near presence. He was no longer sheltered among the crowds that had hidden his presence on the ferry and all the way through to the network tower. He could feel the undercurrents of the plotters in the room but he was unable to intercept and understand the detailed soul conversation of the Gayans inside.
The other Gayans in the group emoted that this venture was full of risk and the chances of total success in liberating Kyra and escaping as far as the river the way they had come were vanishingly small.
Keeran accepted this and suggested that the smaller the group that continued beyond here, the better. The others could complete their official maintenance task and return so that they were well away from here by the time he was exposed to confrontation with Spargar security.
Amily displayed her indignation at the thought of being excluded and of Keeran making the rescue attempt alone. She projected various scenarios where Keeran may not have local knowledge necessary to navigate the much larger central tower, and others that showed him being much better able to successfully complete the mission with assistance from her against the many threats that were probable in executing the simple and direct plan.
Keeran reluctantly but gratefully accepted Amily’s premise and moved then to dismiss the others so that they could complete the maintenance task in hand and exit, not to be implicated any further.
Amily transmitted a huff and a shoulder shrug making it clear that this was the only solution she would countenance and then she and Keeran left the others on the next leg of their mission and exited the room to the elevator tubes. The Ghola outside noted the pair leaving and going up the elevators on the south side; this was the opposite side from the control tower but they were ascending when they had no reason to. The Ghola was unaware of the close electronic scrutiny of the Zarnha security group watching their security monitors with Omeyn MuneMei atop the main control tower. He continued to follow Keeran and Amily, distraught about how to pass his message on to Omeyn MuneMei while still following. In truth the Ghola’s role was diminishing as the surveillance phase of the encounter merged into action.
Amily and Keeran took the elevator tube up to the 799th level from where they could cross through the building to the north side of the network tower and have access to the bridge across to the central control tower. The pair were not talking verbally at all now, just soul to soul. There would be no deception that would explain their behaviour at this point so best not to attract any electronic surveillance if they could avoid it. Keeran was focussed on the imminent action and his earlier fears fell away – he hardly noticed the startling elevator tube ride up and concentrated on the bridge approach to the broad main tower opposite. The slim span he would need to cross to the main tower was just a means to an end. There were a few bridges above their level and many bridges below from other surrounding towers like complex spokes from the rim of city to the central hub of The Spyre. The red threads to Kyra were strong and urgent now and they felt the pull powerfully across to the metallic wall of the main tower. The exterior surface there was interspersed by many open and closed rooms and offices to the outside. The external wall of the main tower was a lattice of columns and floors delineating the workspaces bordering the outside wall. Open offices were literally open to view like cubbyholes at a hotel check-in desk, the exterior wall nothing more than a force field. Sp
argar people were clearly seen in their sombre work suits going about their business in these open areas. Closed offices were obscured by a bright metallic surface that reflected the sky with washed out swirls of oil-can colours.
Keeran monitored the other red threads to the Gayans they had left behind including Rafaello and Umberto back in the Maria in the river bed of the Traganz to the south. The Cavallos were accustomed to waiting on campaigns and would be waiting the call to assist. When Keeran and Amily freed Kyra they would need the Cavallos in the Maria to collect them and make good their escape. He could not foresee circumstances in which they could be of help on the way in. He and Amily were energised physically and mentally; their Gayan spirits electrified their earthly and sparganish bodies respectively such that they were capable of extremes of physical and mental action, well beyond what any native would realise was possible.
Keeran signalled that he thought their best plan was to find and release Kyra then attempt to withdraw but if not possible simply to ensure they perished together and passed through these current bodies to escape home. Amily glanced across at the control tower that would be heaving internally with Zarnha and calmly agreed. They would not pass through a life carelessly as each life required investment of the years from birth to adolescence before they regained their full Gayan power. This entailed a measure of risk as well as all the delay but nor was it to be feared as it was naturally mission’s end.
Amily and Keeran stepped out on to the final bridge as nonchalantly as possible. Half a dozen or so others were on the two-hundred-metre span and it was considerably narrower than the lower bridges, accentuating the altitude and proximity to Omeyn MuneMei. The lack of foot traffic revealed the long empty stretches of reflective metal finish of the bridge floor enhancing the feeling of walking in the air. Keeran was completely primed with all his earthly senses tuned in to whatever was necessary to cross the bridge and find his way up to where Kyra was being held. The red threads emanating from his chest rose up to the main tower wall above, where several floors were obscured, presumably to house high-value captives like Kyra where no view was provided. The red threads faded fast as they pierced into the metallic walls like light beams into murky water. He took comfort that Kyra would know of his approach from the power of her own thread to him and would be waiting in readiness. He and Amily strode down the middle of the bridge only moving to the right briefly twice to pass by oncoming people, who stared at them with curiosity. They descended the slight downslope as the bridge joined the arched entry point. The mass of the control tower wall filled the orbit of their vision.
Keeran was not mindful of their precarious position now. Not the spectacular height and narrow bridge nor the imminence of violent action. Hormones and anthems of Gaya were singing through his mind and body. He was so tall on his toes it seemed that he was floating between long strides. Amily looked sideways at him as they strode on and was impressed as always at his singular focus when the moment demanded it. He could be so awkward sometimes, but not when the heat was on. She was hugely capable herself but she looked to Keeran for that absolute leadership in the pressure of the moment. They could see people passing right and left across the vestibule beyond the entry arch. There were others too who were stationary in wait for them as they approached and two of these security guards moved on to the bridge to meet them.
High above, Omeyn MuneMei looked down on the slender arch where the two figures she was tracking were coming off the bridge. She also had the scene played out on screens behind her monitoring the situation from other angles. Several scenarios played out rapidly in the Mind she was referring to as she reviewed the strategy of this encounter. The security workers behind her gleaned no understanding of this process as they stole stealthy glances at the back of her black cloak, just the top of her bald dome rising above as she hunched forward to look out and down the stack of the main tower. She made her final plans with the Mind in communion with other Omeyns monitoring the situation and moved evenly to action.
The two Zarnha security guards waiting in the vestibule moved out onto the bridge to challenge Keeran and Amily. The Gayans had nothing to say to the challengers so they moved slightly more together on the central part of the bridge and continued moving towards the oncoming figures.
“Stop here and authenticate!” commanded the figure approaching Keeran.
Amily chose to answer for them both, “We require data from the latest alien shipments for our records at Alien Affairs,” she muttered barely audibly to further confuse the guards. They continued to close with the guards without stopping as instructed.
It was clear that Keeran and Amily were not stopping and the affronted guards reached for projectile weapons. “Stop now or be warned we will fire and you will be executed,” came the next, shriller, warning. Still Keeran and Amily approached, Amily chattering away agreeably about Alien Affairs while ignoring the challenges of the guards. They were only six metres away when the guards started to fire their weapons. The air around Keeran and Amily was spangled with cracks and flashing lights as their ripallos detected and deflected the projectiles fired by the guards. Keeran and Amily were still coming on and adopting exaggerated strange body shapes designed to disrupt the aim and increase the efficiency of their ripallos. This further confused the guards who thought the strange manoeuvres were the effect of their weapons ripping into the bodies of their victims. This confusion turned to disbelief as the Gayan pair continued to come towards them and they ran out of time as their weapons were unable to find their mark.
Amily and Keeran closed completely with the guards turning sideways, knees bent under their outstretched weapons. They twisted and turned the guards’ weapon arms off balance and tipped the guards to the outer edge of the bridge. The guards’ surprise at the ineffectiveness of their weapons was magnified further when they attempted to bounce off the force field wall of the bridge back towards Amily and Keeran but instead of the bounce back they were expecting they felt no resistance and sailed completely out into space. Keeran and Amily were equally surprised and glanced briefly at the wailing figures disappearing down the wall of the control tower. Their screams brought more crowds out onto the bridge from the vestibule and Keeran and Amily slipped inside as the crowds coming out pressed against the returned force fields as Omeyn MuneMei watching calmly above turned them back on. Omeyn MuneMei was fascinated by the effrontery and skills of the intruders. She sacrificed her own guards as incompetent and she wanted to capture the intruders alive to examine their physiology.
Keeran and Amily had attained the vestibule that was now heaving with people. Many were medium-level worker castes of Spargar caught up in the melee but close to half were Zarnha agents pressing out to assess the situation and overcome whatever threat was behind it. Inevitably there was a commotion in the archway itself. Most of the Zarnha were wearing shades of grey and black with a few flamboyant individuals sporting a hint of red ranking embellishment to their dark clothing. This struggling mass of Spargar, all in dark-coloured uniform clothing, did not help to discern what was happening in the confusion and allowed Amily and Keeran to press through.
Amily and Keeran were operating on soul communications only for perfection of understanding with complete security, confident that these would be unreadable by the Zarnha seeking them. Listening devices and verbal calling were next to useless in the confused pandemonium. Amily and Keeran had separated and were tacking through the furore avoiding entry to the control tower in a direct fashion when most of the security forces were heading out on to the bridge. At least Amily would not be revealed by her gender; there were several women workers passing through the atrium as the drama started and Amily was indistinguishable from them, Spargan-born as she was. Keeran and Amily followed each other’s progress by the tight red thread between them that instinctively told them of minute changes to their relative directions and distance. They were seeking the same exit corridor and striving individually towards it. Equa
lly they both could feel red threads to Kyra that were close by and pulsing with energy as Kyra too sought them out. Kyra’s position was fixed and clearly she was unable to move towards them; they were not surprised as they expected to find her tethered to an assimilator station.
Amily and Keeran burst forth into the exit corridor at about the same moment. The elevator tubes at the juncture of corridor and atrium were busy as more agents were arriving from both directions to rush to this bridge entry level. Elevators were empty after depositing these additional Zarnha guards. Amily and Keeran waited for the guards to exit then stepped into separate ascending tubes and they headed up to where the red threads ran straight out onto Kyra’s level. It was pointless now to dissemble; speed was more vital than subtlety and deception.
Omeyn MuneMei, watching from her high station, was tracking their progress with the flustered security staff flapping at their monitors to her rear. She continued to be impressed that the intruders had made it as far as the appropriate level. There would be immediate review and retrenchment once lessons were learned over this embarrassment. She would not have admitted admiration for the intruders to Spargar workers but needed to be open when feeding the Mind if she were to get best analysis to improve future operations. These Gayan operatives were as singular in motivation as her best Zarnha security guards and seemingly much more capable and intelligent in action.
Omeyn MuneMei remained relaxed about the situation overall with the vast superiority in numbers at her disposal. She recognised the inferiority of the Zarnha guards was due in some measure to her reluctance to imbue too much capability into her own agents closely attending the control tower. She did not want them to be too capable or intelligent as that could breed ambition in them that could inspire intrigue against their ruler. She wanted to maintain the great gulf in abilities between herself and the other castes. She could see that right now that approach may be ill-informed in the face of these superior Gayan agents and Omeyn MuneMei experienced a rare frisson of chilling doubt despite the fact that this encounter was entirely of her own making and that these Gayans had fallen into her trap. But what if the victims knew all this and walked into the trap knowing they had the capability to break through her defences?