Solstice 31: The Solstice 31 Saga, Books 1,2,3

by Martin Wilsey

  They finally had cats.

  More refugees trickled in. Most were Trackers or farmers because they were the ones best prepared to survive an attack in the villages. These Trackers, in turn, organized themselves to collect more refugees and survivors. They would all arrive via the southern gate in small groups or individually, finding Barcus sitting on a bench in the sun. He would introduce himself to them one at a time. He'd have a good look at them.

  The cloud of security BUGs that surrounded The Abbey ensured that the bench was never vacant when a visitor came near. Since there was never any passing traffic, the BUGs would be tracking them for more than an hour before they approached. A few times, Trackers would approach and hide in the forest to observe. Barcus would allow it. He would monitor them as he was being observed. Barcus would let them watch him read or seem to stare into space until their patience wore thin and they would approach.

  Only once did a lone High Tracker approach The Abbey. It was obvious he was determined to murder. He carried a crossbow, a weapon denied to normal Trackers. A BUG confirmed his intent and took an image of his face.

  Barcus placed his book down on the bench as if he would be right back. Two minutes later, he appeared on the wall with his rifle. The thermal scope made it impossible for the High Tracker to hide. Olias organized a party to collect and dispose of the body.

  For five weeks, Barcus convalesced in the sun as the leaves became full with spring and fields were planted. Po would watch his face as he stared into the distance, hatred on his face, etched in his jaw.

  He would wake each morning early and make tea as Po still slept. He would climb the spiral stairs and walk the wall as the sun rose. He would hear singing coming from the kitchen each morning, as he quietly discussed the campaign with Em and Stu. Barcus had killed over 1,600 mercenaries and eight more Keepers, collecting ten more Plates, all while sitting on his bench.

  On this glorious morning, he paused and decided to add the tower to his exercise routine. He saw the sunrise in clear skies as he watched Ash chased a Keeper through a forest in heavy rain in a HUD window. A small shuttle had been sent to save the Keeper. Fifty personal body guards were already dead or dying. With the Keeper screaming into his Plate for the pilot to save him, the pilot made a fatal error. Instead of prepping the ship for immediate takeoff, he grabbed his weapon, exited the craft and left the cockpit open.

  The pilot had a plasma rifle. He was powering it up and heading to intercept the running Keeper in hopes of killing the demon that was chasing him. The trap worked exactly as Barcus had hoped.

  As the pilot was raising the plasma rifle, the .50 cal bullet entered his chest just below his right armpit. His heart exploded as the bullet passed through it and out of the left side of his ribcage. The overpressure of the impact to his brain, killed him instantly. The head of the Keeper exploded with the next round. Ash collected his Plate and the pilot’s helmet, leaving the bodies where they were.

  The Plate disappeared from the network as it was placed in Par's Faraday compartment. They would leave the helmet active for now.

  The STU was dispatched to the site to collect the small shuttle. Ash and Par easily carried the small ship into the STU's cargo bay. It was called a “quad” - a four-seater. In less than five minutes, the STU was gone with his prize, with its Transponder removed but still transmitting where it was left.

  Then Ash and Par waited, as Barcus watched...

  As expected, by late afternoon another 30 mercenaries showed up to the spot where the helmet was resting unseen on a branch in a tree. The canopy above hid the fate that awaited this troop. Barcus watched the real-time imagery, just as he assumed the High Keeper was. Three more plasma rifles were collected in that effort. Ash had just retrieved the decoy helmet when Barcus issued an order.

  “Get out of there! Maximum speed. Incoming!” Barcus called out.

  Ash had just finished placing the helmet in Par's Faraday. They ran. There had been no need for Barcus to warn them. Em saw the shuttle coming and knew that it didn't contain troops.

  The SAT image showed the largest cataloged shuttle veering off as a parachute opened just above the last known location of the helmet. In the time it took for the giant bomb to arrive and explode, Par and Ash got 1,000 meters away and were safely behind some rocky, tree-covered outcroppings.

  The explosion left a crater 100 meters across, devoid of trees or life. The shock wave tore the leaves and some branches off the trees for another 300 meters in every direction.

  Par and Ash waited for 24 hours for another team to arrive that they could ambush. But none came. Barcus had them on the move again the next day.

  ***

  The STU brought the quad back to the quarry where Barcus could work on it. It was in pretty rough shape but easily serviceable. He was already making a fabrication list for Stu to print up. He'd start with the eighteen external body panels. The current ones were sheet metal that were dented and patched. The black fiber polymer panels in their place would act as armor on the little craft, making it more heat resistant and nearly frictionless in the atmosphere. It would also transform the craft visually, in case it was ever seen. Now it was black and sleek, as opposed to the older dented stainless look.

  Over the next few days, Barcus, with the help of Olias and several others, rebuilt a large amount of the craft’s simple internal thrust systems. Its software was also reviewed and updated. The navigation and comm systems were enhanced and integrated with EmNet.

  The manuals Em obtained also revealed the purpose of the stone obelisks in The Abbey. They were landing and maintenance pilings.

  As soon as these initial upgrades were finished, Barcus landed the quad in the abbot’s garden on automatic. It worked perfectly.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  Redoubts

  “Something else was happening, actively being hidden.”

  --Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Emergency Module Digital Forensics Report. Independent Tech Analysis Team.

  <<<>>>

  “Barcus, I think I have found something interesting,” Stu said one morning as Barcus was taking his first sip of tea at the top of the tower. The walk up the tower was slower today. Stu had performed another knee operation two days ago, and Barcus was sorer than he expected.

  “Show me.”

  “This is our new planetary map based on the comm traffic. Notice the even distribution of larger cities. To date, we have only seen villages and small towns. This matches the standard distribution of colony Redoubt deployment.”

  “Why is this interesting?” Barcus sipped his tea and flexed his sore back.

  “The Abbey is located here.” Another indicator displayed on the map. “This fits the routine deployment of Colony Redoubt Makers. This also means there may be additional abandoned Redoubts in these locations.” More indicators displayed.

  The closest node, the one that was further west and still above the gorge, was zoomed in. At first glance, the area looked wild and undeveloped.

  Then he saw it.

  There was a perfectly round hole in the ground, about 30 meters wide. It was overgrown with vines, and there was a tree trunk fallen across it at one edge, but it was there.

  “The level of overgrowth indicates that it was abandoned hundreds of years ago and not revisited.”

  “I think it may be time to take out the new shuttle,” Barcus grinned.

  ***

  “Po, how would you like to go on a small field trip?” Barcus asked Po when he found her talking with Grady and Smith over breakfast later that morning.

  “Where to?” She smiled.

  Barcus knew the answer was always “yes.”

  “A potential salvage site. Another abandoned Redoubt.”

  “Is it flooded?” she asked.

  “I don't think so. It's hard to tell.” He paused. “I want to take the new shuttle.”

  Po’s eyebrows went up and seemed to draw her up out of her seat. “I'll get my gear.”


  “Got any extra room in that thing? I always wanted to ride in one,” Grady asked.

  “Sure. We will head out in a quarter hour,” Barcus said.

  ***

  The PT-137 Quad was parked in the abbot’s garden. The three, six foot tall obelisks were actually auto lander points for this type of shuttle. Barcus found the standard manual flight controls easy to manage, and were exactly the same as the first trainer he had flown as a kid. The landing autopilot was easy to get to use. It hovered and then set down on the three points in The Abbey garden. This had the added benefit of hiding it from the SATs as well as allowing service and maintenance.

  When he had given the shuttle a thorough once over, he saw it was serviceable and functioning adequately. It had needed a lot of cleaning at the intakes. A standard maintenance routine there had been ignored for some reason. The intake blades had to all be replaced.

  The shuttle carried no additional active location beacons. Em's diagnostics showed the antenna arrays, both primary and secondary, were missing due to some small impacts decades ago, and thus had been disabled. Stu would be able to fabricate new ones once the right raw materials were provided. They relied on the helmet’s real-time transmitter for geo-location and comms now. Em had taken the helmet off-line and then later added it to her expanding closed network, EmNet.

  Ulric wandered up while they were discussing their departure and schedule with Smith and Po. “I am ready to go!” Ulric said. He was sober, it seemed.

  “I think you should stay here in case we are detained and have to walk back,” Barcus said. “Keep your flock moving, as it were.”

  They all knew this undertone. Ever since his fall, Barcus always made sure the people of The Abbey were covered.

  “Keep them shoveling the silt, as each level drains in the Redoubt below. At the rate we are growing, we will need the space.” Barcus knew it was a dirty job. Ash could do it by himself but the twenty-man crew was working it now. Even still, the next time he was here from “the campaign,” he would still have to power wash it when this level was clear. With mercs still above the gorge, Ash was always busy.

  This was the first time Ulric wanted to leave The Abbey walls in weeks.

  “Barcus, you seem to know a lot about shuttles,” Ulric said.

  “I actually know quite a lot,” Barcus said.

  “We should talk when you return,” Ulric said.

  He could tell Ulric wanted to discuss something in private later, so he left it at that.

  The gull wings on the shuttle were up, and Grady got in the back with his ever-present backpack. Barcus got in the front left and Po in the front right.

  The engines fired up as the doors descended. The high pitched, screaming whine of the turbines had been replace with a much quieter, smooth hum and sound of wind.

  “How did you do that?” Po asked.

  “I cleared the intakes, made some new parts and replaced the fuel in the cells with distilled water instead of straight rain water, all after cleaning out a hundred years of buildup.” Barcus handed the helmet to Po. “Put this on.” She did.

  As the ship began to lift in a lazy spiral as part of the automated take off sequence, he explained the controls to Po and the peripheral HUD that was in the helmet. Barcus could see the same display.

  “It spirals on ascent as a traffic safety scan. In cities where there was a garage full of these on the roof of every building, you really needed it,” Barcus said.

  “Here is where you enter the desired altitude, the distance from the ground. It will just hover there.” Barcus selected 1,000 feet. None of the controls were in the metric system. He loved that. He didn't know if the pressure seals were still good, so he would keep it low.

  “The controls are basic. Push this forward and it will go forward. To the left and it will go left. It can even go backwards. This is your power control. The more you apply, the higher or faster you will go. Your speed is indicated here. Now that the intakes and fuel cells are cleaned up, we will keep this number under 600 so we won't leave a vapor trail.”

  “Okay.” Po said.

  “Let's go.” Barcus pushed the stick forward and added power.

  Once they were under way he gradually increased their speed to 500 mph and increased the altitude to 3,000 feet.

  Barcus let Po take the controls several times over the next hour, to Grady's chagrin. Po was getting the hang of it by the time they reached the Redoubt.

  ***

  Barcus gently set the shuttle down in a clearing just north of the great hole. There was no comms chatter to reveal that they had been seen. Stu reported that new reports regarding political climates would be forthcoming.

  Barcus knew that as the canopy opened, a small swarm of BUGs was already being deployed. As they readied their gear, the BUGs were descending the large opening.

  It was better than he had hoped.

  The Redoubt was completely intact. It was very dry inside, and any rain that may have gotten inside was easily drained away. He expected more debris.

  Before they had completely unloaded, Barcus stopped them.

  “I have an idea. Get back in.”

  They all piled back into the shuttle. Barcus hovered three meters above the ground and moved slowly over the hole. Even with the fallen tree, the shuttle easily fit down the mouth of the Redoubt. Once past the edge, the auto-landing sequence began, and the shuttle set down gently on pilings all the way on the lowest level. Leaves and birds filled the air as they powered down.

  They were parked in an area that was obviously a hanger for about 30 shuttles of various sizes. As the gull wing doors swung open, the thing that was the most amazing was that there were lights on. Every level was illuminated.

  This Redoubt was the same size as the one under The Abbey, but it was inverted. Instead of being oriented like a bowl, this one was a dome. The widest level was at the very bottom. Cobwebs were everywhere. Great machines stood in silent bays covered in cobwebs and bird nests and guano.

  Many of the machines Barcus did not recognize, but he could tell the large ones were mining machines, based on the business ends of them.

  “I think this is the Mining Redoubt. These great machines dug the raw materials for this and many of the other Redoubts.” Barcus pointed to great tunnels that bore into the mountain in several places.

  They explored and found workshops full of tools of all kinds, neatly put away as if their owners would return tomorrow. They found living quarters, barracks, computer rooms, command centers, officer suites, kitchens, mess halls, everything in orderly placement.

  “What happened here?” Barcus said out loud. Em answered in his head.

  “It appears that there was an orderly shutdown, but they never returned. Most of the large equipment is beyond repair, but there seems to be some solid state computer systems that have no reason to not function if we can power them up.”

  They had discovered that the only systems with power were the lights.

  Barcus let Ulric know that they would be spending the night, as it would take more time for just the three of them to survey the Redoubt. By the time dusk came, they had done a quick search of only three levels when the light began to fade. With sunset, the lights also fell to black, leaving them in utter darkness.

  Po and Grady used their Plates to create light. Barcus had his multi-tool, although his enhanced vision in his HUD meant he didn't need it.

  Em spoke in his head, “I believe I now understand the lights, Barcus. There are active solar collectors that power them when they are active, but the solar batteries are off-line.” Barcus’s HUD displayed the usual location of the power banks, and they were quickly found. All the cells were bone dry.

  They had discovered that most of the plumbing still worked, but the water that flowed was very brown. Several taps were available in the power cell room, and they were left running for over an hour before they ran clear.

  Barcus showed them how the cells were all dry and only needed
water to see if they still worked. It took almost six hours to fill them all.

  “So why haven't the lights come on yet?” Olias asked.

  “It will take days, perhaps weeks, to recharge them, if they ever work again. I also don't know how many solar collectors are active. I was hoping we'd find one to take back to The Abbey. I never expected to find all this.”

  ***

  The next day, they continued the search. They found a small hospital, an amphitheater, chem labs and fine instrument shops.

  That night, the lights did not fade with the sun. The power control console was tiny and showed the small charge the batteries held. The needle on the ancient dial was out of the black and into the red, but it was holding steady.

  “Em, I want a detailed report about the surrounding region. Include roads, villages, individual houses and even Tracker cabins. Tonight I want the STU to come under the cover of darkness and see if we can move that log. If we can, even the STU could land in here.”

  “Barcus, I believe I have found another Redoubt.” Stu brought open another window.

  Examining it he said, “Po and I will check it out tomorrow. It should only be 40 minutes away in the new shuttle.”

  “Also, the High Keeper is angry about the loss of another shuttle. The High Trackers are trying to tell him it was likely destroyed by the bomb. The helmet signal failed right when the bomb exploded. Many High Trackers were executed over the affair. This is all gathered from communications of Keepers that were somehow affected. The High Keeper himself keeps close his own counsel. He summons people. It's almost as if he doesn't trust his own comms.”

  ***

  That night, the STU showed up with Olias and 33 volunteers. They brought extra provisions with the idea of setting up a long-term presence.

  It took less than an hour to move the log from the hole. The STU was able to land in the bottom of the Redoubt easily. The next night, the power had gained additional ground but was still way into the red. Lights were on all night, however.