One of the robots reached for her, but she dropped, rolling away from it and rising to her feet beside the throne. The other two raised their rifles.
‘I don’t want to blow myself up,’ Aneka said, ‘but I don’t think you want them firing antimatter pulses in here either. Let’s just quit the posturing. I can’t get out of here without you pulling me apart, but you’re not going to risk a fight inside your own brain.’
The rifles were lowered and one of the robots turned, marching off toward the lift they had come down in.
‘Of course, you’re right,’ Summer said, his tone calm. ‘The exit is guarded here and above. You will be… disarmed, as soon as you leave.’
‘Pun intended?’ Aneka suggested.
‘I have a sense of humour. I’ll find it most amusing to watch you being dismantled. I assure you that you’ll be conscious through the entire process. That AI of yours, Al, will be destroyed quickly however. And I care little for what the Herosians have done, Miss Jansen, or how I came to be here. The loss of my memories is, I see now, a good thing. It gave me clarity.’
‘Uh-huh. You’re clearly insane.’ She checked a timer in the corner of her vision. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you die a final time.’
‘And how do you propose that is going to…’ Summer stopped speaking, his holographic image frowning as he looked upward as though listening to something. ‘Primary communications are failing. Secondary systems are still active… What have you done, Jansen?’
‘Radio pulse detected,’ Al stated. ‘Summer will have detected the same thing.’
‘We need that door unlocked,’ Aneka replied. The timer had reset to ten seconds and was counting down.
‘Jansen?!’ Summer roared, his image turning to face her.
Aneka grinned at him, raising her left hand, middle finger pointing to the ceiling. ‘I’ve been keeping you busy. Fuck you and goodbye.’ Then she dived backward, scrabbling for the cover of one of the server stacks. Al activated the rollout of her suit as she did so; she was going to need it because she could hear at least one of the robots stomping after her over the sudden uproar of confused, frightened Herosian naval officers.
Aneka jinked around a second rack as the suit closed over her completely. ‘Camouflage enabled,’ Al announced. ‘The unit has enhanced hearing, but Summer may be able to see through surveillance cameras. We should move. Hopefully the Herosians will make hearing us difficult.’
Not wearing heavy boots helped. The war form rounded the rack and reached for the space where Aneka’s head should have been. Yes, Summer had seen her vanish, but he clearly could not tell that she had moved. She slowed down to a walk and started for the door opposite the one she had come through the first time she had entered the room. Summer did not know she knew about it, but he might figure it out soon.
She noted the timer; two seconds to go so even if he did figure it out, he was about to get something of a shock.
‘You cannot escape, Jansen!’ Summer’s voice beat at her ears from speakers all around the room. ‘I’ll find you and…’
Zero.
Aneka almost fell as a series of violent explosions shook the ship. The lights flickered for a second and then stabilised, and the shouting from the Herosians grew significantly louder. The door ahead of Aneka slid open and she bolted for it and the corridor beyond. If Summer was still capable of watching her he was going to figure out where she was going pretty soon. Then again, he had not seen the other door opening on its own.
‘On the third hand,’ Al said, ‘that war form is behind us.’
Aneka picked up the pace. ‘Damage reports?’
‘The station is on backup power. The reactor room is not even reporting damage. The primary and secondary communications systems are damaged and offline. The mine in the crate appears to have entirely wiped out that section, but there are radiation alerts in everything the other side of the bulkhead at that end.’
‘Prime the satchel,’ Aneka ordered.
‘When that goes off…’
‘That’s why I’m running.’
‘Aneka, that detonation could seriously destabilise the structure of the station,’ Al warned.
‘That’s why I’m running fast. Do it!’ A timer appeared in the corner of her vision; ten seconds to make it through seventy-five metres of corridors and up one level. But the living metal suit she was wearing gave her amazing speed. She could do it in under five seconds and she would have a bulkhead between her and the explosion in less. The ladder was going to be the slow part…
As she passed the bulkhead and the door began to close behind her, Aneka jumped, grabbing for the top rung on the ladder on her left. To accommodate the huge robot bodies, the ceilings were up around three-and-a-half metres, but she made it easily and began hauling herself up to the next level.
There was a robot standing in the corridor a couple of metres from the ladder, between her and her exit. For a fraction of a second, as its rifle swept around toward her, she thought the thing knew she was there. Then the rifle scanned back again. No, it knew nothing, but she had to slip past it and that was going to slow her down.
Six seconds…
Moving as fast as she dared, Aneka slid past the robot, as close to the wall as she could manage. Then she walked on another few metres, her spine tensing in preparation for a shot in the back, before she picked up the pace again.
Three seconds…
‘Is Ella ready?’ Aneka asked.
There was a slight pause and then Ella’s voice in her head. ‘Are you coming? Please tell me you’re coming.’
‘I’m coming. How’s the airlock?’
‘I’ve got it open. There’s no sign of any Xinti yet, but…’
‘I think they’re busy. We made a mess and I’ve set the big bomb…’
‘Shit, how…’
Aneka rounded a corner and saw the open airlock door, Ella crouched beside it in the same sort of metallic suit she was wearing, with the addition of a life support unit. The station chose that moment to lurch as though it had been hit by a small moon. The sound of metal groaning as it tried to hold itself together under stress it was not designed to take filled her ears.
‘Get in!’ Aneka yelled over their comm. She was a second away herself and it felt as though the station was not going to survive that long. She watched Ella turn and bolt in through the hatch. Slowing down was not an option, she was going to hit the outer door hard, but bruises were the least of her concerns. Ella slammed her hand on a control as Aneka ran past her, and the inner door started to close. Aneka hit the outer door and bounced.
The hatch made it about halfway before grinding to a halt with a screech. The rock the airlock was drilled into was deforming around them. Ella ignored it, yanking open a panel beside the outer door, grabbing the heavy lever behind it, and using all the force her suit could provide to pull it down. There was a series of small explosions and then they were being propelled out of the airlock by the air blasting out after the hatch.
Aneka caught Ella’s wrist and pulled her close. They tumbled in space, clinging to each other and catching glimpses of the devastation they had left behind them. The asteroid and the station within were falling apart. Deep fissures crossed the rocky surface and there were ruptures where sections of the hull had blown out entirely. Summer, and most of the Herosian Admiralty, were gone.
Pointing her right arm, Aneka fired off a force pulse which pushed them away from the destroyed station and their initial trajectory. A second or two later Gwy appeared on their flight path, airlock open and ready to receive them. There would be enough chaos to cover their escape. Aneka figured the Herosians in the area were too busy trying to mount rescue attempts to check for a ship appearing from nowhere for a few seconds.
‘We made it,’ Ella said. ‘We found someone to blow up, and you blew them up.’
‘Almost,’ Aneka replied. ‘Almost made it. Say that again when we’re out of the system and in bed.’
Gi
ggles did not translate well over the link. ‘Okay. I will.’
Epilogue
Gwy, 3.2.530 FSC.
‘We made it,’ Ella said, more of a groan than a statement.
‘We’ve been “making it” for the last hour,’ Aneka replied. Her tongue flicked out, grazing the tip of one of Ella’s nipples.
Ella squirmed. ‘I mean we got out alive… And we planted the virus…’
‘You planted the virus. I’m really proud of you.’
‘Is that why… oh, don’t stop… I’m being treated to… all this attention?’
‘Sort of. Mostly it’s just stress relief.’
‘Do you think it worked?’
‘Well so far my stress is being relieved.’
Ella managed a slightly choked giggle. ‘I meant the virus.’
‘Gwy? What’s the status on the stations in the system?’
The obsidian girl appeared beside the bed, apparently watching the couple with some interest, though her voice was all business. ‘Chaotic. The virus has only had an hour and a half to work, but I am already detecting shutdowns in some of the manufacturing plants. There has been an increase in outgoing tachyon traffic commensurate with the virus transmitting itself to other systems.’
‘Sounds… like it’s working,’ Ella moaned as Aneka’s hand began a rhythmic stroking between the redhead’s legs.
‘Pardon me, Aneka,’ Gwy said, her tone questioning, ‘but if this is meant for stress relief it seems to do the opposite. Ella’s heart rate and blood pressure are heightened, her rapid breathing is reducing her oxygen intake. How is that relieving stress?’
Aneka laughed. ‘When we get back to Shadataga, ask Winter.’
5.2.530 FSC.
Aneka sat in Gwy’s flight chair with Ella in her lap. Gwy stood beside them, apparently on empty space. All three watched the sensor readouts from the system they were still orbiting.
‘It looks… dead,’ Ella said.
‘The last transmission went out over four hours ago,’ Gwy supplied. ‘The only two functional vessels left the system just after that.’
‘There was too much Xinti technology in the equipment here,’ Aneka said softly. ‘The virus shut it all down and left everything working fitfully at best. If they want to come back they’ll need to bring their own gear.’
There was silence for a few seconds and then Ella asked, ‘How… How many do you think died?’
‘It is only an estimate,’ Gwy said, ‘based on the number who could have been on the transports and the probable complement of the observed stations, but approximately a quarter of a million.’
‘Oh. I suppose I shouldn’t care. They wouldn’t care about me, but…’
‘You should care,’ Aneka told her. ‘No one should ignore loss of life. Sometimes there’s no avoiding it, but you should still care.’
‘It’d be easier if I didn’t.’
‘Uh-huh.’ Aneka pulled her partner closer. Their lips touched, a light grazing of sensitive skin. ‘But caring, even about your enemies, is the difference between being a warrior and a murderer.’ She raised her voice again. ‘Gwy, plot us a course to Shadataga and get us into warp.’
‘Of course, Aneka,’ Gwy replied. ‘You don’t wish to initiate the warp transition yourself?’
Aneka got to her feet, lifting Ella with her. ‘No, I trust you, and Ella needs some attention.’
‘More stress relief?’
‘Not exactly. The nice thing about this particular activity is that if you slow it down it can ease an aching heart as well.’
###
About the Author
I was born in the vicinity of Hadrian's Wall so perhaps a bit of history rubbed off. Ancient history obviously, and border history, right on the edge of the Empire. I always preferred the Dark Ages anyway; there’s so much more room for imagination when people aren’t writing down every last detail. So my idea of a good fantasy novel involved dirt and leather, not shining plate armour and Hollywood-medieval manners. The same applies to my sci-fi, really; I prefer gritty over shiny.
Oddly, then, one of the first fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales. In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north around Tywyn.
I got into writing through roleplaying, however, so my early work was related to the kind of roleplaying game I was interested in. I wrote science fiction when I was playing Traveller. I wrote “high fantasy” when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote a lot of superhero fiction when I was playing City of Heroes. I still love the idea of a modern world with magic in it and I’ve been trying to write a novel based on this for a long time. As with any form of expression, practice is the key and I can look back on all the aborted attempts at books, and the more successful short stories, as steps along the path to the Thaumatology Series.
Writing, sadly, is not my main source of income. By day, I’m a computer programmer. I work for a telecommunications company in Manchester, England. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, and (recently) Kim Harrison. Kim’s Hollows books were what finally spurred me to publish something, even if the trail to here came by way of Susan, back in school, several decades ago.
For More Information
The Thaumatology Blog: http://thaumatology.wordpress.com
The Steel Beneath the Skin Blog: http://steelbeneaththeskin.wordpress.com
Other Books by this Author
The Thaumatology Series
Thaumatology 101 (ASIN: B006IYIESW)
Demon’s Moon (ASIN: B006JPN7A0)
Legacy (ASIN: B006OKR8PK)
Dragon’s Blood (ASIN: B0072S1DOU)
Disturbia (ASIN: B007GNICZO)
Hammer of Witches (ASIN: B007YG2I44)
Eagle’s Shadow (ASIN: B008E17TYW)
Ancient (ASIN: B00923F8AS)
Dragonfall (ASIN: B00AKV95XW)
The Other Side of Hell (ASIN: B00AS0NF54)
For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll (ASIN: B00BNSQ4AS)
Anthologies in the Thaumatology Universe
Tales from High Towers’ Study (ASIN: B006ZAJ7TY)
Tales from the Dubh Linn (ASIN: B0080XPD88)
The Aneka Jansen Books
Steel Beneath The Skin (ASIN: B00D4MN40O)
The Cold Steel Mind (ASIN: B00FJIQ85O)
Steel Heart (ASIN: B00H0GYRQA)
The Winter War (ASIN: B00I6HRXAE)
Table of Contents
Part One: Heat
Part Two: Fuel
Part Three: Fire
Part Four: The Slow War
Part Five: What Once Was Lost
Part Six: The Battle of New Earth
Part Seven: Summer Without Sun
Epilogue
Aneka Jansen 5: The Greatest Heights of Honour Page 28