Fearful Symmetry (The Robert Fenaday and Shasti Rainhell Chronicle Book 2)

by Edward McKeown

  Pard turned his head. “Fenaday,” he spat out. “Wait. We can work out a deal.”

  Fenaday felt the strength draining from his legs as icy agony spread from the stab wound. In seconds he would fall, and Pard would be free.

  Fenaday laughed wildly. “Work this out, you genetic freak.” He slammed at Pard’s remaining elbow as Pard bucked furiously, trying to unseat him. “Shasti,” he screamed, crying out her name with each blow to Pard’s elbow. His legs failed him. He clung to Pard’s neck, hoisting himself higher to hit the elbow. Pard cried out as the elbow broke and his weight tore at the fractured joint. Fenaday felt something seize his hair. Instinctively, he reached up, loosening his grip on Pard. The Olympian’s hold failed. With a deep shout of despair, Pard plunged to the bottom of the gorge a hundred meters below.

  His eyes blinded by tears, Fenaday felt himself hauled upward. Reaching the top railing, he grasped it like a lover. Shasti still had hold of him, but her strength failed her. She fell to the pavement, her back sliding down the metal side of the bridge. With the last of his own strength, Fenaday pulled himself over the railing, dropping onto the ground near her. Darkness rushed in on him.

  Sometime later, Fenaday’s eyes opened. Breath came in ragged gasps. It felt as if the knife was still in his back, ice cold and deep. Tears flowing down his face, he reached for his aid kit. Numb fingers struggled with the catches. The universe narrowed to his battle with the latch. Finally, it sprang open, and he fumbled out a combat trauma tab. He reached behind his back, almost passing out again from the pain. He got the tab as close as he could to the wound, triggering it. He hoped the plastic bandage would cover the knife wound. In seconds, the unutterable relief of painkiller spread through him. He fought the lassitude brought on by the relief. Shasti, he thought. He raised his head. She lay against the railing like a rag doll. He could not feel his legs or get them under him. He crawled. Blood covered her face. Her eyes were unfocused, but she smiled. She turned her face to him as he called her name. “Pard’s dead,” she said happily, “he’s dead.”

  “Are you badly hurt?” he gasped, crawling toward her.

  “Pard’s dead,” she repeated, as if he’d missed something terribly important. Fenaday reached her and pressed a trauma tab on a fractured rib. The device hissed open, its bandage covering where splintered bone showed through.

  “We have to get up,” he said. “My radio’s gone. No one knows we’re here. We’ve got to get to our feet.”

  She shook her head slowly, as the drugs took over. “Can’t,” she whispered, “can’t see. Doesn’t matter, Pard’s dead.”

  “You be the feet,” he insisted. “I’m your eyes.”

  She smiled through the blood. “Can’t,” she repeated, as her fingers fumbled up to touch his face. “I’m sorry, Robert, sorry.”

  “Up,” he insisted. Shasti sighed and blindly reached hands toward him. They struggled to rise for a few seconds, then slumped back to the ground.

  “Sorry,” she said, tears leaking down her blood-covered face.

  “It’s OK,” he choked out. “We’ll rest here for a few minutes. Then we’ll try again.”

  “I think,” she said, her voice soft, but clear, “we will rest here for longer than that.”

  The will drained out of Fenaday, replaced with a desperate fatigue. “Yes,” he replied softly.

  “Kiss me good-bye, Robert,” she said.

  Fenaday raised his head and kissed her softly on the lips. His head fell forward on her chest and his eyes closed. Shasti put an arm around him, as if to hold him close, then her head slumped to her chest.

  A cold rain began to fall.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Telisan stared anxiously from the cockpit of the Pooka. He’d fought his way out of the net around the star-frigate after most of the Denshi troops pulled out. Now Sidhe’s two shuttles flew just over the treetops, drawing occasional small-arms fire, steering an erratic course from the seacoast to the plateau holding Pard’s base.

  “Look,” Karass demanded. Telisan’s head snapped up as the Dakota class shuttle cleared the first small range of the mountains. In the distance columns of smoke rose from the high plateau where the Denshi compound sat. Smoke mixed with the low clouds of the rainstorm. In the middle distance a gorge bisected the plateau, leering up at them like a sick smile.

  Their companion ship, the Duna, kept station to their left as they moved in. Behind the shuttles the sun rose, but the land below remained in shadow. They flew over the wrecked MagLev line and the burning guard station by the bridge. Flames lit the towers of the complex ahead. They could see the winking of weapons fire. No Denshi aircraft could be seen; still the turrets of the Pooka were manned. Navy fighters might appear at any moment.

  Telisan had all the remaining reliables of the Sidhe crew with him, people who owed either him or Fenaday a debt of loyalty: Sharla, Mennolly Fitzgerald, Wardell, Carlos Perez and some of his “black gang” and Dobera, the Frokossi princeling who owed Fenaday his life. The lizard-like being sat with them in the cockpit; his jeweled scales eerily reflected the greenish light of the instrument panel. Frokossi eyes were very effective in low light or underground. A set of day goggles hung around his thin neck. On his belt hung a small, ornate but serviceable laser, a relic of his years as prince before hard luck made him a ship’s quartermaster.

  Telisan turned to Perez at the communication station. “Anything on radio?”

  The engineer shook his head. “There is still a big jammer screwing reception. I get snatches of conversation. I’m sure I heard Mmok for a second. He should be signaling for a pickup.”

  The Denlenn curbed his impatience. “Keep broadcasting the IFF signal. I don’t want the cyber-forces and ground troops firing on us by mistake.”

  The Intruder, Telisan thought, with Fury at the controls, should be moving in. Where is it? Navy and Denshi reinforcements would be escaping or breaking the Army net. Fenaday never intended to hold the complex. Dominici’s forces would do that when they arrived. Telisan wanted to recover Sidhe’s forces and get back to the ship under Army protection before the dust settled.

  They went into hover over the complex, their guns seeking targets.

  “I have the Intruder on scan,” Karass announced. “She was behind a tower.”

  Mmok’s voice sounded suddenly in their speakers, “Gold to Blue, the LZ is hot. Resistance has been contained but is not ended. Land in section 23A. We are holding that area and have our casualties there.”

  “Affirmative, Gold,” Telisan said. “This is Blue. Where is Scarlet?” he asked, using Fenaday’s code designator.

  “Scarlet is MIA, last seen in Sector Forty, which is not secure. Blue, we have a reported sighting of Stormcloud, also in Sector Forty.”

  “Rainhell,” Dobera said, recognizing the code for Shasti. His eyelids snapped open and closed with agitation.

  “Yes,” Telisan agreed with an excited glance at Sharla.

  “But both are unaccounted for,” Sharla cautioned.

  “We must find Fenaday,” Dobera said. There was no sibilant hiss to his high thin speech despite the forked tongue whipping the air. “He would have gone after Rainhell.”

  “Yes,” Telisan nodded. “Sheehan, are you reading?”

  “Affirmative,” replied the command pilot for the Duna.

  “Set down in the sector Mmok holds. Your medical teams can deal with the casualties. We will hack into the computers and search for information to discredit these Denshi. Karass, I’ll need you to join me as we search for Fenaday and Rainhell.

  “Mmok, do you have any information on Pard?”

  “No confirmation on the kill yet. He was also spotted in Sector Forty. We were going after him when a counterattack hit. We’ve had to contain it. They pulled out some choppers from an underground hanger, gave us a bad time. Fortunately, the Intruder showed up.

  “If we are going to do a fighting withdrawal,” Mmok continued, “I need time. We’ll have to fall back carefull
y. There are still a shitload of these assholes underground and in bunkers. This place is a fucking warren.”

  “We have to find Scarlet and Stormcloud,” Telisan snapped, “so we will need time anyway. Keep their heads down and minimize the threat to our troops.”

  “Blue, I am not going to sit here taking fire for that planet-raper and his girlfriend.”

  “Silence,” Telisan ordered with a force that carried even over radio. “You have your orders. I will advise you when to withdraw. I need time. Buy it for me.”

  “Affirmative,” Mmok said, bitterness audible in his voice. “We’ll try not to get killed while you are looking.”

  “Please do that,” the Denlenn replied earnestly, ignoring the sarcasm.

  “We are coming in,” Karass called, his face intent as he peered out of the now rain slicked canopy. “I see ASATs and LEAFs, the Intruder and I have a ground guide. Landing now.”

  The shuttles hit the ground, back to back, turrets searching for targets. Rear ramps went down, and the crews spilled out, forming up on Telisan. Mourner and Arpen led their teams to where the assault-troop casualties and medics huddled under the overhang of an office tower. A surprisingly cold, fine rain came down on them. Telisan shivered and sealed his flight jacket, looking up anxiously at the flaming office towers. If one should fall…

  He shook off the thought and waved for the others to follow him. He left the evacuation to Doctor Mourner. Telisan’s party sought two things, their friends and information.

  Consulting a portable comp with the complex’s map on it, Telisan led the others from cover to cover, heading for Sector Forty. He heard firing in the distance and cursed the shortness of time. They ran steadily toward the Denshi’s computer complex. A few scattered office workers wandered about in a daze, these fled upon seeing the party from the Sidhe. They made progress slowly as the towers rained debris on them. Paper and ash filled the air, swirling like malign snowflakes.

  “We must split up for now,” Telisan ordered, goaded by their slow pace. “Sharla, take Perez and his people. Check Section Thirty-Nine B and Forty A. Look for any sign of Fenaday, Pard, or Rainhell, then proceed to the computer building. Pick up any of Sidhe’s Landing Force you come across. Dobera and Karass, come with me. We will check out the tunnels under the main building.” The section he’d ordered Sharla to should be relatively safe, cleared and held by a few of the robots and Sidhe troops. It freed Rask’s ASATs and the bulk of the cyber-force to continue the fight with the Denshi troops.

  Sharla nodded and waved at her people. As they moved off, Telisan felt an intense relief. The tunnels would be dangerous work. He feared Sharla would argue with him, but her Navy discipline held.

  The Denlenn turned, leading the reptilian and the stocky human to the entrance to Pard’s own tower. From there they could enter the underground passages to the transport building and another building Telisan had been unable to find any information on, even in Dominici’s files. Telisan figured it for a lab of some sort.

  They opened a stairwell door. Telisan craned his head upward. A fire burned fitfully on the floors above, despite the sprinkler system. Water flowed and splashed in the shaftway and it smelled of soot and ash. It reminded him with sudden force of the underground city of Barjan on Enshar.

  “This should lead to the main tunnel,” Telisan gestured with his laser. The way below appeared undefended, save by the dead. Main Tunnel looked intact but damaged, with doors blown in and lighting panels shattered. Blood-red emergency lights glowed balefully. They entered each room, checking the bodies, hoping not to find familiar faces looking back at them.

  Telisan, Dobera and Karass moved down the sparking corridor, one advancing while the others covered. A visor concealed Telisan’s eyes, which would otherwise reflect light like a cat’s, a distinct disadvantage in a night battle. Dobera’s huge eyes swiveled independently, disconcerting but useful. Karass with the triple-auto brought up the rear. Telisan, the best shot of the group, led.

  The passage smelled of scorched flesh and smoke, a nauseating combination even to the Denlenn with his inferior sense of smell. He looked at the Frokossi, scenting through his delicate tongue, wondering how he could stand it. They passed bodies: Denshi, some civilians, an ASAT from Rask’s force lying across disabled Crab robot.

  The ASAT carried no ID, so Telisan could not take her dog tag. He gently rolled the dead woman onto her back and composed her arms as if for sleep. Karass handed him a jacket hung on a nearby chair, and Telisan covered the young woman’s face. He barely knew the trooper, only enough to recognize her, but it sat ill with him to leave her cold and alone in the dark. Mentally, he logged where they’d left the body in case a chance arose for recovery. She had a family, he thought. She must have mattered to someone.

  “We’ve got to go,” Karass said. “Olympian forces from both sides will arrive soon.”

  “Yes,” Telisan stood. “I want to be well en route back to Sidhe and Army protection before then. We must find Robert and Shasti. Pard is either dead or has escaped by now. That part of the mission is done. Only survival and escape remain.”

  As the spacers started forward, two figures darted into the far end of the corridor. Even in the poor irregular light, something seemed wrong about them, about the way they moved. The first jerked to a stop as it spotted them, whipping up an arm and firing a particle beam. The weapon’s surging light signature added its own strobing effect to the shattered light fixtures. The beam hit the wall next to Dobera as the Frokossi dove to the floor. Telisan’s fighter pilot reflexes made his arm a blur. His laser flicked out, lancing the tall figure in the head. It fell bonelessly. The other figure, evidently unarmed, emitted an undulating wail and dropped next to the first.

  “Don’t fire,” Telisan ordered. Karass and Dobera covered him as he advanced, laser leveled. The flickering light in the corridor suddenly stabilized. The Denlenn froze in cold shock, staring down at the pair.

  Aliens. A new species, unlike anything he knew of. The creatures wore what looked like ornate overalls. Each had three arms though they looked more like tentacles. Small hands with opposable thumbs hung at the end of two of the arms. The shorter but thicker third tentacle hung from the middle of the chest. Their heads held large brain cases over short muzzle-like noses. The smaller being raised its three arms, squatting on two legs and its slender tail, in a gesture that looked like surrender. Telisan kept his laser level as he looked into a pair of diamond shaped eyes, black from lid to lid, set in a face covered with short, tan fur. The one on the floor was larger, darker, and obviously dead.

  “Don’t shoot. No shoot,” the smaller alien said in a breathy voice. Its tentacle hands waved slowly, placatingly, as if in a breeze.

  Dobera and Karass joined Telisan. He could not read the Frokossi’s expression; the human’s mirrored his own dismay.

  “A new race,” Dobera whispered in his high thin voice. “Gods, not again.”

  Telisan shared the feeling. The Conchirri changed everyone’s view of the night sky when they charged, insensate and ferocious, out of the unknown stars. Millions of deaths followed in years of war before the Xenophobes could be exterminated. The Seven now dreaded the discovery of the inevitable Ninth species. That day had arrived.

  Now Telisan knew where the armaments and manpower of Denshi had gone, and why Mandela was so insanely desperate to kill Pard. News of a “First Contact” would have raced through all known space at courier speed. It hadn’t. The presence of these aliens, hidden in the complex, could only mean the Olympians planned an alliance with them. The stakes were suddenly galactic in scale.

  The alien ceased waving its frond-like arms and spoke from its muzzle-like mouth. “This one dead. This one,” it gestured at itself with all three boneless arms, “this one surrenders. Do not kill, have much information. Will trade.”

  “Karass,” Telisan said, recovering. “Do you have restraints on you?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Bind its arms…someho
w. Then cover it with a blanket or jacket. You and Dobera take this being back to the shuttles. Go back to Sidhe and put it into the iso-lab. Only Arpen is to see it. She will be preparing to head back with the wounded. No one but our people must see you.”

  “We’ve got to tell the Confederacy!” Karass sputtered. “It’s a new species. If they have ships, nuclear weapons—”

  “We will,” Telisan said, “in due course. We need cards now, as you humans say. I am going to meet Sharla and her team in the computer complex.”

  “What of the captain?” Dobera demanded.

  “He may be there as well as anywhere. We will try and locate him from there. Now move.”

  Plagued with new terrors, Telisan watched as the human and Frokossi escorted the alien out the way they had come. He drew himself up and headed on, his plans to explore the underground temporarily abandoned. Looking around carefully for Denshi troops, he headed back to the surface, guided by his pocket comp. When he reached the surface, he spotted Cobalt and two of the Crab robots.

  “Cobalt,” he called, “report to me.”

  The machine raced over to him. “We are moving to flank a large force of Denshi, pinned underground,” it said in its detached machine voice. “Controller Mmok has ordered the cyber-force to collapse the tunnels out of the area to restrict Denshi movements. All live troops are moving back inside a perimeter centering on the shuttles.”

  “Has the shuttle Duna lifted off?” Telisan asked, desperately wishing the alien and the wounded safely on their way to the ship.

  “Affirmative,” Cobalt said. “Controller Mmok advises that only cyber-forces are deployed outside the shuttle perimeter now, to keep up fire on the surviving Denshi units.”

  Telisan looked up at the smoking buildings and shattered skybridges. “How secure is this area?”

  “Clear,” replied the machine. Then its demeanor changed subtly. “Telisan this is Mmok speaking to you through Cobalt. I need her and one crab-robot, but you can’t be out there by yourself. I’ll assign Crab 5 to escort you.”