Tethered Worlds: Unwelcome Star

by Gregory Faccone

  Glick drew her pistol and pulled the scutum tighter against her body. She was poised to jump into the hallway.

  Jordahk's autobuss hummed in his hand. He thought commanded it to chamber the two old cartridges Aristahl had given him. His mystic autobuss was second-generation. The older the model, the better, and he liked his, which dated back to mid-war. He sensed Aristahl's cartridges were at least as old, an uncommon ammunition vintage.

  The now one-armed maintenance bot finished a drunken, near comical pirouette. Another explosion burst open its head, jerking it backwards. Trying to right itself, it overcompensated and fell forward in a heap. The explosion violently scattered debris. Jordahk instinctively checked his decrepit suit.

  "Seals intact," Max said.

  Apparently stashed for quick access, Aristahl pulled out his tiny ladybug. "Is there enough air for fans, Barrister?"

  "Barely, sir. Minimal maneuverability."

  Jordahk watched his grandfather gently raise a suited hand. Atop it, the little espy flitted its tiny wings intermittently at first, no doubt adjusting them and configuring micro fans.

  Aristahl gave the metal ladybug an encouraging boost. "I know the air is thin. Go on now."

  The espy lifted slowly, wings a blur, coming to rest at the edge of the alcove leading to the corridor. It peeked around the corner. Aristahl projected a VAD showing a cylindrical bot with two large arms at the end of the hallway. It was affixed to the roof of a chamber serving as the nexus for a number of passages.

  "Ah, the old-style sentry," Aristahl said.

  Glick snorted. "Ancient's more like it."

  "And not the typical non-lethal variant," Jordahk said.

  The sentry moved in agitated fashion, rotating abruptly a few degrees in either direction, scanning for additional targets. The maintenance bot jerked in the middle of the corridor. It was extra pathetic in the wan yellow light. Its exposed electronic brain lay half on the deck.

  "This slag means business," Glick said, pointing to the sentry's oversized arms. "That scutum can stop anything I've got. The offense cluster on the other arm has a powerful grister, and something else I don't recognize. The barrel's wide. A sheller?"

  "Shotgun," Aristahl said, "but I do not think we should expect stuns." He pulled out a sleek iridium seeker drone. Its yellow luster matched the light.

  "Sir," Barrister interjected, "in consideration of this confined space, and those subpar suits..."

  "Yes, yes, no warhead." Aristahl concentrated, and the seeker drone changed shape. "You see my intent, Barrister. Do not rush it now." He looked over at Glick, and the two exchanged a nod. He tossed the drone into the corridor. The instant it left the protection of their hatch alcove, its rockets ignited, and it weaved a crazy zigzag advancing up the corridor.

  The sentry's offense arm jerked wildly in an attempt to intercept. It tried to maneuver the scutum to shield itself in case the seeker drone made a bee line. Glick, the only one of them with a scutum, edged out into the corridor and squeezed off some grister bursts. The sentry was torn between the seeker drone and the human shooting at it.

  It put a burst on Glick's scutum. The high-powered impacts pushed hard. A second burst almost knocked her over before Aristahl reached out to brace.

  Across the corridor Jordahk saw another hatch alcove. It was time to man up. When the sentry switched back to the seeker drone, he leaped across. The half gravity allowed him to propel quickly. Too quickly. He slammed into the closed hatch, and took a deep breath in an effort to refill his lungs.

  "Jordahk!" Aristahl admonished.

  "I'm okay. We needed another angle."

  "That was a crazy one, kid," Max said.

  Jordahk focused on the autobuss and in particular the two oldest cartridges. Each was good for five shots. He mentally reconfigured them to fire cones instead of the usual triangle of pellets. The autobuss hummed in his hand, and he could feel it working. But was it doing what he wanted?

  "Max, show me the new projectile shape." Original ammo was renowned for its flexibility.

  The AI projected a silhouette in a small VAD. "That'll do for armor-piercing."

  Jordahk steadied, switched the autobuss to his left hand, and edged it outward. Max changed the VAD to gun-eye with reticule. When the sentry switched targets, Jordahk squeezed off a shot. With the pistol held awkwardly, the autostock didn't unfold. A surprisingly large recoil jerked him backward despite the mystic autobuss's legendary capacity to shunt inertial energy.

  "Holy ingots!"

  A clang sounded even through the thin air. Sparks erupted off the sentry's offense arm leaving a deep gouge carved into a non-vital region.

  "That ammo's pretty hot," Max said.

  A grister burst exploded into a hail of sparks off his hatch alcove. Jordahk had the sentry's attention.

  The sentry's scutum routines were surprisingly effective. Positioned as it was at the end of the corridor, it only had to guard one quadrant.

  "Our seeker drone is running out of fuel," Barrister said.

  "Take it in as best you can. See if you can get behind," Aristahl said.

  Glick took advantage of the sentry's seeker drone priority. She fired a couple of bursts. Both slipped by the scutum, but only caused an outpouring of sparks on its body. The sentry's ceiling mount allowed quick mobility. It pulled back to better protect itself as the seeker drone plowed in.

  The sentry's interception fusillade enveloped the iridium rocket in sparks, but it wasn't destroyed. It flew out of the cascading embers making wobbly course corrections. The sentry aimed again. Jordahk seized the moment to fire a shot at its "shoulder." It wasn't vital, but the way this old ammo hit, the sentry would surely be knocked off target.

  Jordahk's arms jerked back again as a scintillating halo erupted at the top of the sentry's offense arm. The maniacal machine reverberated from the impact. Its shots went wide, and the seeker drone dove into the scutum. The drone exploding with a brilliant flash and a fraction of its true power. Even so, the scutum strained and was pushed back hard. A shock wave traveled down the corridor, even through the thin air, disrupting the fading zigzag trail of rocket exhaust and pressing against them.

  Aristahl prepared another seeker drone as a dark blue flash emanated off the downed maintenance bot. Its remaining arm reached to where its head was lying against the deck and initiated a series of colored repair arcs. Jordahk thought the blue flash familiar. The maintenance bot stood. The sentry, now back in position did not fire upon it. This lack of action riveted everyone's attention.

  "Jordahk, get back from it!" Aristahl said.

  The bot swiveled its remaining claw and rammed Jordahk. Shocked, he barely wedged the autobuss into the claw's pincer as it pressed into him. Without a second arm for leverage, the malfunctioning bot couldn't crush him, nor could its considerable strength damage an autobuss. The bot strained, pushing the old pistol into Jordahk's chest, pinning him against the wall.

  "What the hell!" Glick exclaimed. "What've you gotten us into, old man?"

  "Can you get an angle?" Aristahl asked.

  "Not without hitting him."

  A brief hum from the sentry preceded a booming sound clearly not a grister. A shower of high velocity pellets ricocheted down the corridor. Most of them bounced off the bulkhead and slammed into the back of the maintenance bot. The sentry was trying to hit Jordahk by ricochet, a strategy normally ineffective against combat-suited opponents.

  Jordahk's mind whirred as muscles strained to hold back the crushing force of the maintenance bot. Had the sentry analyzed his suit and known how weak it was? How was the maintenance bot hacked? Low fidelity resonance transmissions through the deck plates? That sounded impossible.

  The sentry fired again. This time pellets penetrated Jordahk's suit at the exposed arm and shoulder, causing hot, stinging sensations. Another pinged off his crystal faceplate cracking it.

  "More work for Torious," he said through gritted teeth.

  "I heard that," Torious sai
d over their links. He was well back from the action. "While I appreciate it, I'm not looking to suffer the same fate as that maintenance dolt."

  Jordahk's air was escaping, his head becoming light from the lack of pressure. His eyes defocused, and he lost ground against the maintenance bot's force.

  Aristahl threw another seeker drone, and it rocketed toward the sentry. It closed within 10 meters before beginning a zigzag pattern as the sentry changed back to grister for interception.

  "That's it!" Glick said.

  Keeping her scutum facing the sentry, she leaped at the maintenance bot. As she slammed into it, her scutum flared from the sentry's expected grister burst, and the impact momentum transferred through her to the bot. The girl and the machine were propelled down the corridor, freeing Jordahk. Glick kept the scutum between her and the sentry as she rolled into Jordahk's alcove. He pointed the autobuss at the blurry maintenance bot and fired.

  The pistol bucked. When the glare faded, it revealed a gaping hole where the top of the maintenance bot had been. A shower of parts pinged off the bulkheads down the corridor. What was left of the maintenance bot fell over, inanimate for good this time.

  Jordahk's winged arm was constricting as the suit's pea brain formed a seal around the hole. Glick slapped an emergency patch on the shoulder breach. The pressure in his suit normalized, and he felt sharper immediately, his vision focusing on her face.

  "That was crazy," he said, "but thanks."

  Glick's shoulder pressed against his as they flattened in the alcove. She looked him in the eye through his cracked crystal. Concern crossed her face for a second before a wry expression returned.

  "I won't get paid if you get shot through because of a radiated stunt."

  "Jordahk," Aristahl said, "these suits cannot take even incidental damage. We have to stay out of the line of fire until we gain control of the atmosphere."

  Aristahl reprimanded sparsely, and only when absolutely necessary. Jordahk felt this reprimand more about strategy than boldness. Somehow that emboldened him even more. It was okay to risk and to do when thought-out and at the right moment. Aristahl didn't discourage bold action when warranted.

  "That was the last seeker drone," Aristahl transmitted across the corridor. "We need to turn the sentry and hit it from two sides. Young lady, the avian. Jordahk, put some fire on it at the right moment."

  Aristahl's manner became distant. Jordahk sensed something. His brain felt action and movement somewhere nearby. The seeker drone's hissing changed pitch. Rocket nozzles protruded at strange angles as it flattened out like a manta ray, its maneuvers becoming childlike. That was the only word that came to Jordahk's mind to explain it. It cartwheeled around, less interested in getting past the sentry and more in taunting it.

  In a quick, smooth motion Glick hurled the avian drone toward the sentry. With a sudden blaze of mach-diamond filled thrust, it transformed from a gleaming, faceted platinum shape to that of a metal bird of prey. The avian spiraled dauntlessly as space blurred around it from hard air maneuver planes. The sentry seemed positively conflicted. It had only hit the edges of the seeker drone and not yet laid a shot on the avian.

  "Keep them off to one side," Jordahk said. "This is it."

  "What is it?" Glick asked.

  The autostock crept up Jordahk's arm as he held the pistol conventionally. Taking a deep breath, he dashed into the corridor, staying close to the right side opposite the drones. He ran hard, keeping the autobuss trained as best he could on the sentry's offense arm.

  "If that thing turns on us, I want this shot right down its barrel, Max!"

  "Gotcha."

  Jordahk kept the trigger studs depressed, knowing Max would fire the instant the precision shot became available. It was an on-the-run shot only doable with an AI and smart-barrel.

  For a fraction of a second, the sentry calculated what posed the greatest threat. Aristahl saw Jordahk make his move and wasn't going to give it time to think. He dove the seeker drone straight toward the sentry's eye and sensor suite. It exploded even brighter than the previous drone, directing overloading incandescence forward. Jordahk squinted from the dazzle but dared not close his eyes for fear of tripping. The multispectral light transmitted pain through his optic nerve straight into his brain.

  The overloaded sentry stuttered for a heartbeat. Jordahk heard Glick yelling to the avian over the link. It rocketed past the sentry into the corridor nexus. He comprehended her intent. The sentry's scutum had to be taken out. No cutting edge, not even a monomer knife, could penetrate hard air. As the recovering sentry turned to follow the avian, Jordahk burst into the nexus. He switched his aim to the defense arm, knowing it left him vulnerable if the sentry decided he was the threat.

  "You're going down!" The intensity in Jordahk's voice surprised even him. It was like listening to someone else. He heard more shouting over his link, but his mind was occupied elsewhere. The autobuss grew fat in his hand, the barrel getting shorter and thicker. He felt the two remaining shots in the vintage cartridge combine into one super-dense ball. The autostock stiffened against his body as Jordahk put the reticule onto the center of the defense arm.

  The sentry detected the energy buildup. It kept its scutum facing the avian and swung its offense arm toward this new threat. Jordahk fired, creating an expanding circle of light. The report was a deep booming thump, the recoil enough to propel him onto his butt. A streak of distorted air passed through a collection of shards. It was all that remained of the defense arm. The fragments were pulled into the distortion as if into a raging river. The scutum flew at a random angle and flickered off.

  "Whoa." Jordahk saw spots, and among them the offense arm leveling at him. The sentry switched to shotgun, and Jordahk had the intense realization of a large bore barrel pointing directly at his chest.

  A dark blue blur shone from behind the sentry. It was intense yet somehow remained dark blue. The avian's osmium cutting edge. Rockets roared at full bore. It shot past in a cobalt streak. The sentry froze, then came apart cleanly in a diagonal line. Before the lower half even hit the deck, it exploded.

  Jordahk was half into another corridor that fed the nexus. He covered his helmet crystal and rolled backwards with the force of the blast.

  It was getting darker. Why? Jordahk's shoulder blades smarted from impacting the back of his suit, which in turn had slammed into something solid. His head was foggy, but it was definitely getting darker. And he heard voices.

  "Jordahk. Jordahk!"

  "Pops?" Jordahk said groggily.

  "Thank the Ajurian Realm. Is your suit compromised?"

  "No. But, it's getting dark." Jordahk untangled from a sprawl. The light source was the corridor nexus, from which hung broken bits of smoking sentry. The hatch to it was closing. He moved sluggishly toward it. "The hatch is closing."

  "Do not try to hold it open," Aristahl said. "Do not trust any safeties."

  Jordahk was in time to put a hand in the closing gap, but Aristahl's words rang true. Something was wrong here. He kept his hands to himself and saw Aristahl coming into view as the hatch sealed shut.

  "Pops, can you get this one open?"

  No response.

  "Pops? Max, what's going on?"

  "This place is dangerous," the crusty AI said. "Wave transmissions are being nulled."

  Resonance transmissions were a lot harder to block, especially at close ranges. Jordahk palmed the hatch.

  "Pops?"

  "Ah, you remembered," Aristahl transmitted. "Listen, Jordahk, we have access to the interior. It is operating on the original security paradigm, with which I am familiar."

  "But not this hatch?"

  "That is correct. And without our once helpful maintenance bot, this hatch cannot be readily breached. We are exposed in this nexus. Glick and I are going to move into the heart of the facility and square things away. Do not touch anything."

  "This place is familiar," Jordahk said. The sound of his voice in the dark increased the feeling of isol
ation.

  "Understandable. I will explain in a few minutes. Be careful. If any bots come your way, shoot first. We will sort it out later."

  "Veritas. See you in a few."

  Jordahk was in total darkness. Half air was better than no air.

  "Let's try the lumie, Max."

  The AI brought it to the top of the bag, and Jordahk held it out. The little sphere glowed tentatively and rose on mini fans. Its light brightened as it strained higher. The new corridor was like the one from which they entered minus the hangar view.

  "I think this one leads back to the surface," Max said. "Probably an emergency exit or hidden docking port."

  A dark region down on the left was an open hatchway leading farther into the heart of the rock.

  "A security double hatch," the AI said.

  "So why's it open?"

  Peering down it, Jordahk detected faint white light. Curiosity burned within him. He'd been here before, and the only thing that fit was his mystic link implantation trip with Aristahl. This must be where he saw the girl in the tank, asleep or something. The implantation procedure left it all undefined. Now he could get hard data.

  "Let's go," Jordahk said, indicating Max should send the lumie ahead.

  "I don't like it."

  "I know, it doesn't add up. We won't touch anything, like Pops said. Keep an eye out for anything that looks even remotely dangerous."

  "This entire place is dangerous."

  "It's not street fighting on Utica Cyr."

  "We knew who we were facing back then. Here—I don't know. Call it a hunch."

  "A hunch?" Jordahk exclaimed. "You're getting hunches now? What's next, Max, relationship advice?" He laughed.

  "You're sub-humorous," Max said drolly.

  They passed through another open security hatch. It made neither of them feel more secure. The corridor ended in an antechamber. One wall was natural rock, but the shine and veining gave Jordahk the impression of granix. He didn't understand its construction. The rest had a polished quality the outer facility lacked.

  The dim, sterile white light showed an exit hatch on the far side. The purpose of the antechamber was apparently the large, hangar-style doors it framed. The two closed halves were tough and industrially thick. He wondered if he could open them considering the previous open security hatches.