Skybreach (The Reach #3)

by Mark R. Healy

  “Amateurs?” Knile said, incredulous. “Listen, kid, I was hacking networks back when you were still shitting your pants–”

  “Not the Consortium network,” Aksel insisted. “That’s where you’re an amateur.”

  Knile shrugged. “I found my way around in there pretty well when I was up in the Infirmary. Remember the alert Emil told you to create in the system? I shut that off in a matter of minutes.” Knile cracked his knuckles theatrically. “In between slaughtering a couple of the Crimson Shield, as it turns out.”

  There was a scattering of chuckles across the room, but Aksel didn’t seem to see the funny side of it.

  “You only got into the Consortium network because you got your hands on a Consortium tablet, right? You were already inside the network to begin with. You wouldn’t know the first thing about cracking their intrusion prevention systems from outside, would you? Not like I can.” He folded his arms across his chest and looked pointedly at Silvestri. “I’m not giving anyone else access. End of story.”

  “All right,” Silvestri said placatingly. “The last thing we need is Aksel locked out of the network because someone else goes stumbling around in the system. If that happens, this whole thing will fall into a shambles. Let’s find another way around the Stormgates.”

  “I’ve reversed them in the past,” Knile said. “Twice, in fact. There’s no reason why I couldn’t do it again. The only problem is that the Consortium might figure out something is going on if the Stormgates are left in that configuration for an extended period.”

  “Which will most likely be the case if we’re going to get two teams through,” Silvestri said.

  “So we need to come up with another way,” Yun said. “Otherwise we’re going to be left scratching our balls outside the Stormgates like a pack of idiots.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Iris said.

  “I’m pretty sure he meant you too, Iris,” Holger sneered, rubbing at his crotch mockingly.

  “Does anyone have something constructive to say?” Remus said testily. “If we can’t get through the Stormgates–”

  Both Aksel and Knile began to say something over the top of him, then Holger and Iris joined in, and in moments there was a cacophony in the room as everyone tried to talk over everyone else. Silvestri raised his own voice, calling for order, but no one seemed to be listening. The volume in the room swelled as others joined the fray, and just as Talia was about to begin screaming at them herself, there was a sound like a thunderclap that brought the argument to a screeching halt.

  In the ensuing silence, they all turned as one. In the corner of the room, Lazarus had gotten to his feet and now stood with his hands pressed together in front of him, as if he were about to dive into a swimming pool.

  Talia realised that the tremendous noise that had interrupted them had been the Redman merely clapping his hands together in one sharp, ear-splitting strike.

  “My apologies,” he said, lowering his arms, “but this will not do.”

  Holger was the first to recover, sticking out his chin indignantly.

  “Who the hell is this guy, anyway?” he said, glaring at Lazarus. “All he’s done up until now is sit around stealing oxygen. What’s he contributing to this circus?”

  Lazarus seemed unperturbed. “I am Aron Lazarus, once a soldier of the Crimson Shield.”

  “Yeah, and what are you now?” Holger said.

  “He’s here to help us,” Knile said. “He knows the Consortium. He worked for them under the Crimson Shield.”

  “Help? Yes, I can offer help of sorts. However, I have my own agenda,” Lazarus said with an apologetic glance at Knile. “I will assist you where I can, but I will not pretend to hold your priorities above my own.”

  “What’s your agenda, Lazarus?” Silvestri said.

  Lazarus sighed heavily. “I was cast out of the Crimson Shield some time ago, for indiscretions that I will keep to myself. When that occurred there were… great injustices served against me by my peers. They shamed me and tried to destroy me and everything I held dear.” He looked at Knile again. “It was cruel and unjust, and innocent people suffered because of it. In return for that, I would have my vengeance upon them.”

  “So you want to kill a bunch of Redmen,” Holger said, shrugging. “Seems compatible with our plans.”

  “There is one among them,” Lazarus said ominously. “One who wears gold bands across his shoulders. He is the Dux, what you would call ‘Captain’ of the Crimson Shield.” His eyes narrowed. “He must be left to me at all costs. He was the instigator, the worst transgressor of all, and must be made to pay.”

  “That’s all fine,” Iris said, “aside from the part where we can’t get through the Stormgates. I don’t think you’ll be getting vengeance on anyone, captain or not, if we don’t get past there.”

  Lazarus nodded, then dropped his hand and reached into his pocket, extracting what looked like a small golden wafer. He held it up between his thumb and forefinger for everyone to see.

  “I believe I may be able to assist with this matter.”

  Yun took a step forward. “What is that?”

  “When I left the Crimson Shield, I took my armour with me. Last week I used it in battle in the Infirmary against my former brothers.” He looked down at the wafer. “I extracted this from my armour when the battle was done. I do not pretend to understand the mechanical wizardry behind it, but I believe that this shard of metal is what allows the Crimson Shield to pass unhindered through the Stormgates. When it was first given to me, I was required to give a sample of my blood to the Consortium. I believe this shard is somehow fused with the blood of its owner–”

  “Can I see that?” Yun said excitedly. Lazarus nodded accommodatingly and Yun strode forward, taking the wafer carefully in his hand. He pulled some sort of viewfinder from his pocket and began to scrutinise it in detail. “Let’s see, here… oh wow. This is nice, very nice. Diamond semiconductor, haven’t seen that in years. Triple integrity stores, rapid access SQP. I’d have to study it further, but…”

  “What are you thinking, Yun?” Silvestri said.

  Yun looked up at Lazarus. “Do you think perhaps the DNA sequence of the wearer is run through a combinatorial algorithm of sorts and then cross-referenced with a–?”

  Lazarus stared at him, a blank expression on his face.

  Knile appeared at Lazarus’ side. “Uh, Lazarus isn’t really the technical type, Yun,” he said with a sheepish grin. “He’ll take your word for it.”

  “What do you have in mind, Yun?” Silvestri said.

  Yun put the viewfinder away and held the wafer up into the light.

  “If I can figure out exactly how this works, then start fabricating copies, I could use the same algorithm to create one of these for every person in Skybreach.” He glanced at Lazarus. “I mean, getting our hands on one of these wafers is huge. No one outside the Consortium would have ever seen one of these before. If it works, we could get free access through the Stormgates.”

  “When will you know for sure?” Silvestri said.

  “I’ll get to work on it when we finish up here.” Yun frowned. “I’d need methane and hydrogen plasma to form the diamond material for a start–”

  “Save it until you know for sure,” Silvestri said. “Let’s consider the rest of the plan, assuming we can get through the Stormgates. What’s next?”

  “Taking control of the roof,” Knile said. “Here’s where the real fun begins.”

  “Right,” Silvestri said. “There’s five Redmen stationed there.”

  “Well, not just that,” Aksel said. “If there’s an attack on the roof, the technicians will send a communication up to Habitat One. Once that happens, they’ll shut the Wire down from the far end, and this mission will be officially over.”

  “So we have to take out the Redmen, as well as the techs, before they have a chance to push the alarm button,” Holger said doubtfully.

  “That’s a simplification, but yes,” Aksel
said.

  “Not gonna happen,” Holger said.

  “Not so fast,” Silvestri said. “This is why we’re using two teams on this mission. Team Alpha goes through the Stormgates first, disguised as passengers. Assuming Yun’s chips work correctly, the Redmen won’t realise that anything untoward is happening. The team will pass through the Stormgates as if they were in possession of legitimate passkeys.”

  “Until they get to the railcar,” Knile said. “When it becomes obvious that they don’t have legit passkeys, they won’t be able to proceed any further.”

  “They won’t have to,” Silvestri said. “They’ll already be behind the Redmen.”

  “Once we’re there, we just have to figure out how to take out the Consortium comms,” Iris said. “Otherwise the techs will contact Habitat One about the attack.”

  “If I can get access to the comms units,” Yun said thoughtfully, “I could probably disable them. It will take some time, though.”

  “Time we don’t have,” Silvestri said. “And I doubt they’re going to stand aside while you rummage around in their gear.”

  Knile rubbed at his chin. “How about an EMP?”

  Iris shot him a curious glare. “EMP?”

  “Yeah, an electromagnetic pulse,” Knile said. “That’s probably the quickest way to get the job done.”

  “It’s old school,” Yun said, “but it just might work. Where are we going to get one?”

  “I can put one together myself,” Knile said. “Should be able to source the parts right here in Gaslight.”

  “Can you build one with a limited range?” Yun said. “We don’t want to cook everything on the roof. We won’t be able to launch if that happens.”

  “Yeah, I can do that,” Knile said.

  “So, after the EMP, Team Omega follows through, packing the heavy artillery,” Silvestri said. “We’ll have the Redmen sandwiched on the roof. That will give us the best chance of overpowering them.”

  “My brawlers don’t have the firepower,” Holger said, shaking his head. “Not to take five Redmen head on.”

  “What about the RECS?” Remus said excitedly. “I’m pretty sure I know how to locate them–”

  “We went over this last month, Remus,” Silvestri said, sighing wearily. “Emil told you not to bring it up again, didn’t he?”

  Remus shrugged. “Well, we’re under new management now, so I thought I’d give it a shot.”

  “If those things even still exist, they’re not going to be functional,” Silvestri said. “They’re a waste of time, and right now time is in short supply.”

  “Am I missing something here?” Knile said. “What are these RECS?”

  “Old defensive systems,” Remus said, his eyes shining passionately. “Every space elevator installation had them, back in the old days. They were superseded, sure, but I think we could–”

  “No,” Silvestri said, and there was a note of finality in his voice. “We’re not going down that path. Holger and his men will do the job, right?” He stared pointedly at the brawler.

  “Yeah,” Holger said after a moment. “We’ll do the job.”

  “So when we reactivate basic comms on the roof, keeping audio and video feeds disabled,” Silvestri said. “We tell the habitat there’s been a malfunction with those systems. After that, what’s our play?”

  “As long as we have the launch codes,” Aksel said, “Habitat One won’t know the difference. We just tell them there was a power outage and that only basic systems came back online.”

  “Can you get the launch codes?” Silvestri said.

  Aksel nodded. “Yeah, no problem.”

  “So we all get on board? Is that the idea?” Holger said.

  “No, there’s not enough seats aboard the railcar for everyone to fit in,” Silvestri said.

  “So who goes up first?” Knile said.

  “The brawlers and anyone else who can fight,” Silvestri replied. “They’re going to have to get through the Redmen once they reach Habitat One.” He turned to Lazarus. “Can you tell us how many of the Crimson Shield are stationed there?”

  Lazarus shook his head. “It has been many years since I saw the habitat. I could not say with any certainty.”

  “So we’re going up there blind,” Holger said, disgusted. He gestured to Aksel. “Can’t boy wonder here tell us something about it?”

  “I haven’t been able to hack that far into the system,” Aksel said. “Yet.”

  “We don’t necessarily have to outgun them,” Iris said. “If we can take Consortium employees hostage we could possibly force them to lay down their arms.”

  “Wait a minute,” Talia said. “Taking hostages? These are innocent people you’re talking about here.”

  “We want to do this bloodless if we can,” Silvestri assured her. “But we also have to be prepared for the possibility that it might not go down as cleanly as that.”

  “Get with the program, sugar pie,” Holger drawled. “The Consortium are the bad guys. Who cares if they end up with a few paper cuts?”

  “It’s not as simple as that,” Talia said.

  “The skin of the habitat is very thin,” Lazarus said thoughtfully. “Delicate. There are no firearms permitted there, even by the Crimson Shield. If you were to brandish your weapons there, you could effectively hold the entire habitat hostage. One well placed round might cause a catastrophic explosion.”

  “It’s a possibility, but we don’t want to destroy the entire habitat,” Silvestri said. “No one wins if that happens. Our aim is to force the Consortium to relinquish control of the Wire, that’s all.”

  “How does that work, exactly?” Knile said. “Are we just expecting them to stand aside while we do our thing?”

  “We’re going to demand that the Consortium personnel vacate Habitat One,” Silvestri said, “at which point we’ll assume full control of the Wire. After that we’ll officially begin Stage Two of Skybreach. That involves implementing a system where random citizens are chosen to travel up the Wire instead of those with the most creds in their pockets. There is a cruiser waiting to take refugees out to Enceladus, one of the moons of Saturn. I can contact the captain using the comms aboard the habitat.”

  “How many are you hoping to fit aboard?” Knile said.

  “The cruiser will be the first of many. They’re rebuilding an aging society there and need young immigrants. We’ll hopefully establish a steady stream of refugees.”

  “Damn,” Holger said, scrubbing his face. “This seemed a lot easier when there was fifty of us working on it.”

  “And when we had a few months up our sleeves to prepare,” Remus added.

  “None of us are under any illusions that this is going to be a cinch,” Silvestri said. “There’s a good reason why no one has ever overthrown the Consortium system before – it’s a tough nut to crack.” He looked around the room. “But we can do it. I know we can.”

  Talia couldn’t help but feel daunted by the enormity of the plan that Silvestri had laid out. Now that she understood the ramifications of what they were attempting, the endgame seemed distant, the mountain before them almost insurmountable. Looking around the room, she could see that the others were struggling with similar realisations. There was a very long and complicated chain of events that needed to fall into place perfectly for this plan to come off, and they all knew it.

  But what other choice was there? They had to push forward.

  “I agree with Silvestri,” Talia said, gathering her courage. “We can do this.”

  Knile looked at her and smiled approvingly. He gave her a little nod of appreciation.

  Silvestri held his hand out toward the door. “Then let’s begin.”

  9

  “Hey, asshole.”

  Aksel faltered as he left the meeting room, scowling, and turned to see Roman standing in the corridor. He was leaning on the wall casually with his arms folded across his chest, a supercilious expression on his face.

  “What?” Aksel s
aid incredulously, as if it were inconceivable that he should be addressed in such a fashion.

  “You heard me,” Roman said.

  Aksel turned to face him. “What’s your problem, kid?”

  “‘Kid’?” Roman scoffed. “That’s rich. You’re practically the same age as I am.”

  “Not really.” Aksel glanced behind him as the others from the meeting trailed off to see to their duties. “What do you want, Roman?” he said impatiently.

  “I want to know why you’re being such a dick.”

  Aksel rolled his eyes and began to walk away.

  “Get out of my face.”

  “Hey, I’m talking to you!” Roman said, following close behind.

  “No, you’re actually just spouting garbage at me. I don’t have time for that.”

  “Who do you think you are, anyway?” Roman said.

  Aksel rounded on him suddenly, eyes blazing. “Who do I think I am? I’m the guy who happens to be the lynchpin of this entire operation, that’s who. Who the fuck are you?”

  Roman was somewhat taken aback. The Aksel he’d first met out in Link had been a shy, retiring young man, edgy and unsure of himself. It seemed something had changed in the week since, something that had chipped away at that uncertain exterior, revealing the rawness beneath.

  It was only natural, Roman figured. He should have been expecting this. The attack on Skybreach by Capper and his men must have been a harrowing experience. Talia had told him as much.

  “I’m doing my part,” Roman said, attempting to recover his poise.

  “Yeah, and what’s that? Scrubbing the damn toilets?”

  “Not exactly. I wired up half the surveillance room, as it turns out. It was a mess until I got to it.”

  Aksel scoffed, turning and continuing on his way. “As if there aren’t a dozen people here who could have done that job.”

  Roman followed after him, and they entered a small room where a pile of dishevelled blankets lay in one corner and a couple of scratched terminals sat on the floor nearby.

  “Everyone was busy doing other things. It wouldn’t have been done if I hadn’t taken ownership of it.”

  “Look,” Aksel said, turning back to Roman. “I have a shitload of work in front of me that needs to be done yesterday.” He pointed down at the terminals. “I’ve been living in this corner since we got here. You know why? Because the work that I’m doing can’t be done by anyone else. It’s up to me. If I don’t get it right, this whole thing falls over.”