Marko inwardly smiled, thinking it was interesting that whatever the Hauler constructs had infected him with, it allowed him to lie in a totally convincing fashion with no elevated heartbeat, no skin flush and no hesitation. He thought the ability would be absolute gold it he was a gambler or card player, but he was neither and simply couldn’t see the point in that lifestyle anyway. He saw Jan looking at him in a way that only such a long-term partner could when they know something is not one hundred per cent on the level. He looked across at her and gently smiled. She knew that he was bullshitting, but none of the usual signs had appeared. Normally, he was an awful liar.
The major let out a short laugh. ‘A problem? No, absolutely not. Everyone knows that Hauler crew are probably the most excellent crewmates anyone could wish to have. They are so rare in the general population that most of us only ever see one every ten years, so I am more than a little intrigued when two arrive and attach themselves, not just to Basalt, but also to you personally.’
Marko came close to laughing out loud. ‘What can I say, Major? I’m just an interesting kind of guy.’
That earned him a swift kick to the nearest ankle from Jan.
The major looked between them. ‘OK. I shall ask Stephine and Veg when I see them. Now, to business. I will talk to Jasmine and Lilly shortly, and offer them a contract under standard terms as if I were the long-term master of this ship. Have either of you any objections to that? No. Good. Patrick, do you have any objections?’
‘No, Major. I have their service records here and also their preferred specialist trades. I would be very happy indeed to have them as crew.’
Major van Beere gave a large and genuine smile. ‘Good. Please note that in the log, Patrick.’
He became serious again. ‘In regards to the question of Colonel White. Her entire body is infected, so the question is, do we send her back to the Administration on ice, or keep her here? A consideration is that something could go wrong with Crystal and she might be revived by Admin personnel unaware of what they are dealing with. I think it best the colonel remains here. Any objections? AIs, are you in agreement? Yes. Good. In regard to the remaining crew members, I have been told that Stephine may be able to speed their recovery further. Yet another thing I find most interesting. I am pleased that she is on our side! Now, I should very much like to hear everyone’s views of what we should do in the next day or two.’
*
Over the next couple of hours Patrick announced that Crystal was preflighted and good to go. He also called on each of them to upload their Soul Savers to her before the ship left. Marko was the last to upload and as soon as he had finished, Crystal communicated Patrick’s clone’s farewells to them and promptly left, jumping away fast so he could to get to Administration with the great deal of data he held as quickly as possible. Marko excused himself and went down to the galley to start preparations for their meal and also to lay in a large amount of protein-rich food and drink for Veg.
He was just pulling loaves from the oven when his friend walked in. Veg looked worn out and gaunt. He was even stooped a little, and did not seem his normal vibrant self. He came over, shook Marko by the hand, then unexpectedly hugged him, solemnly thanked him and sat down to eat. When he was halfway through, Stephine arrived, looking equally haggard and drawn, with Nail right beside her. Marko placed her favourite juices, fruits, cheeses and breads in front of her and she ate more than he had ever seen her eat before. Soon, Lilly and Jasmine arrived with Julie.
Stephine greeted them like long-lost sisters, and she even hugged Jan when she came at the dinner call with the major. Veg caught Marko looking at them, winked, rolled his eyes and went back to demolishing a large piece of bread between mouthfuls of beef stew. He had given up on using a fork and was using a large tablespoon instead.
‘That was a grand feed, thanks, boy. I’m on dinner tomorrow I see. I shall cook you something special.’
‘Hey, any time, Veg. Bloody pleased to have you back.’
‘Yeah, and you smacked a couple more GB monitors, I hear, Marko, you bad lad you. You’ll be on a very special list by now, as we all are. Looks like the colonel’s underskin ceramic fibre was no match for the blades on your suit and pleased about that, I am. We’d better finish it off in the next few days, but right now I’m knackered, mate. I really need to sleep. Sneak around the corner and talk to Stephine. She wants to talk with you in private while everyone else is occupied cleaning up. You did well, my friend, Marko. A debt is held for you and it is a big one.’
Marko smiled, reached up and clapped Veg on the shoulder, then walked off to find Stephine who greeted him almost formally. ‘Hello, friend Marko. I am in your debt. I thank you for what you have done and I am aware that you now know a little of my true nature. In time, you will get to know the rest. You are a special person, Marko, and I am very pleased to know you and count you among my friends. You can trust Lilly and Jasmine. The Haulers are a remarkable group and will always look out for you and this crew. Good night, Marko.’
With that she bent down, kissed him on the cheek and then walked away, leaving him a little dumbfounded. He decided he would have to talk to Veg about this debt business as he believed he had been doing what came naturally to him … breaking things!
*
Four
Marko walked to the galley, feeling like he could do with a few more hours’ sleep himself. Jan had been as horny as all hell so it had been a great night for both of them. Everyone was up and doing. Veg and Stephine looked much better. Their resident amazons were cheerfully enjoying breakfast and holding conversation with a fascinated-looking major. Marko chewed through his bowl of muesli while watching the main screen, checking through his boards and bringing up the long-range views of the target system some half a light year from them. The astronomical drones had mapped the system and identified the moonlet of main interest, where everyone believed the missing scientists and their facilities would be found.
The star the system orbited was a fairly standard one. The inner three planets were normal, including two that would harbour life in a billion years or so, if left alone. The main gas giant was an interesting one. It appeared to have been captured by the local star and was much older than the rest of the system. In reality, it was a failed star. One magnitude bigger and it would have ignited. It was sufficiently big to be generating some energy and one of the moons had good atmosphere which would insulate the planet and make aircraft flight possible. It also appeared to be tectonically stable, unlike some of its neighbours, and they could just pick out what appeared to be an orbiting artificial object.
Patrick had moved them a good distance from the stellar LP. If anyone or anything was coming and going from that LP, they did not want to be observed. The major decided that it would be sensible to wait and not expose their existence. He knew that Crystal would be moving through the Lagrange points considerably more quickly minus biological crew members and they learnt just how fast she had travelled ten days later when a fast picket arrived at the LP and started to look for them. It had all the correct ID protocols so they allowed it to close with them. The AI on board had mail and orders from the Administration. They were to move closer and observe, if they could be sure that the possibility of detection was minimal. The picket also carried the maximum amount of ammunition and stores that could be jammed into it. After it had been unloaded, it jumped back to the closest secure rendezvous, where the battle fleet was being assembled.
*
Stephine had been spending a great deal of her time with Ernst and Topaz and they had come up with a plan to rapidly speed up the removal of the alien material from the bodies of the remaining infected crew members. Marko’s mate, Minh Pham, then Thao Ban and, finally, Warrant Officer Roger Ngata were taken from cryno and, while still frozen, placed in the tanks. Hundreds of thousands of the new nanotes were placed in their systems as they were slowly brought back up to ambient temperature. Ernst very carefully monitored their awareness and kept them
heavily sedated, as he believed the pain each would be going through would be at the same level as if their entire being were on fire. It was not a nice cure. Some days later, once their systems were given the all-clear, they were allowed to wake. They were in great distress as they did so, though. When they did get out of the tank they were pitifully weak, but very pleased to be back with the living and free from infection. The three remaining salvage crew were left in cryno until a better plan could be found. It was decided that it would be best for Fritz and Harry to remain on ice as well.
Minh Pham explained why. ‘It was horrible, Marko. We could feel the creature inside us fighting the nanotes as it tried to stay alive and also tried to keep control of us. It kept overriding the sedation. It was like a most terrible insect trying to burst from my body. I have never truly hated anything in my life, but I now hate the entities who created these monsters. I am grateful to Stephine and to your medical suite AI. I was constantly wishing that they had killed us outright; we could not move because of the sedation but we felt every second of it. I should ask Patrick to erase the memory from my Soul Saver, but I actually want to remember so I can be a stronger soldier. Come help me, please: I wish to bake bread. It will help to ease my mind a little.’
However, the decision was taken to carry out the treatment on Major Longbow and also Colonel White. The sedation levels were increased but five days later the results were just the same. The major was gibbering and it was ghastly to watch, but for the colonel it was much much worse. Ernst wanted to euthanise her, but Stephine vetoed it, saying that the colonel was tough and she would want it that way. Jan wondered if Stephine had a slightly mean streak in her.
When Marko was instructed to make the colonel a new arm, he decided that plans were afoot for her.
*
He was resting in the gardens when Topaz quietly slid up beside him. ‘Marko, nice to see you. I hope we can return to the pleasant days of making beautiful ACEs together soon. Now, an interesting little development, but please keep this to yourself. Some of the virus that we have been working on, as recovered from our crew, bears a very close resemblance to those used against us on 27’s planet, when the blowflies were all over us dripping in tailor-made bacteria and programmed virus. Yes, I know. The conclusions are frightening.’
Marko felt like yelling, but suppressed his anger. ‘Hell’s teeth, Topaz! That leads to a whole bunch of very unpleasant possibilities. Just what the hell is the Games Board up to?’
The machine patted Marko’s arm with one of its mechanical ones. ‘Unfortunately, Marko, I believe that time will tell us.’
*
A very large comet had been observed in the target system’s Oort field, sufficiently large to allow Basalt to jump into its trailing LP. Patrick had given the picket AI the coordinates of all probable jump points before it had departed, and this one had been on the top of the list.
Major Longbow was now back in command and he was keen to get closer and give the ones who had harmed them a little payback. The crew were worried as the major was a long way from his normal self. The colonel was utterly withdrawn, almost catatonic. Stephine and Ernst spent a great deal of time with her, slowly teasing her out of her shell.
It seemed to Jan that if she were able, the colonel would kill herself and destroy her Soul Saver to ensure that none of the memories of what she had been through would remain with her. She knew she had been a pawn in hurting the rest of them, to say nothing of whatever had been achieved by her when back at Cygnus 5. Her replacement arm was completed and attached, but this time it had none of the capabilities that Marko’s arm had, and was the same skin colour and tone as the rest of her. Stephine and Ernst finally got her to a reasonable stage, and then Jasmine took over, slowly but remorselessly pulling every tiny piece of knowledge and information from her.
While all this had been going on, they had taken little jumps closer. The astronomical drones were once again deployed as the ship waited and watched. Patrick started to get a good idea of the size of the target base. It was a disc shape, roughly one kilometre in diameter and some five hundred metres deep.
Veg was sitting next to Marko as they watched their screens, and chatted. ‘This is no small potato operation, Marko. Someone has been pouring huge resources into this lot.’
‘You’re not wrong there, Veg. The question is who?’
Two days after they had arrived, another fast picket rendezvoused with Basalt with more ammunition, stores and heavy combat suits for everyone who did not already have one.
‘Crew, this is Longbow. My thanks to you all for your patience. We believe that we now have sufficient knowledge of the target to understand a little of what is going on. Obviously, to destroy all human life on one of the main worlds of humankind, a very large vessel would have to be deployed. It would have to be at least half the size of the observed base. As of the last picket arriving, no attack has yet occurred, so we are tasked with finding out where that enemy attack ship is and, if possible, damage it before our main force arrives. Crystal and a sister ship, Agate, will be arriving in a few hours. Start your preparations; this is going to get messy. Orders have been flashed to your wrist units.’
Marko looked down at his wrist screen, and thought, Oh, goodie, at the pointy end again. He said his goodbyes to Jan and the rest of the guys, gathered Glint and Flint and made his way down to the hangar deck, where Stephine’s craft was aligned at a launch hatch. Stephine welcomed him on board with Jasmine and Lilly looking on. Veg grinned at him then went back to watching his screens.
‘Hello, Marko, I must explain why you are now attached to me,’ said Stephine. ‘You are precious to us, so by having you close, I can best protect you. Jasmine and Lilly will be your wingmen, so, between us all, we will be a formidable team.’
He looked across at Stephine in her coal-black suit and wholeheartedly wished that he was somewhere else making something, or even just baking bread. She had that look in her eyes that meant someone was going to experience hell as decided by her. Veg, in contrast, just looked his normal self.
‘Hey, Marko,’ Veg called cheerfully, ‘time for some new toys, eh! Don’t worry, I have also sent a full set to Jan, plus one of the new suits especially for her, just not as flash as yours, though. Step this way, little brother.’ The huge man gestured. ‘This is your new suit container. Just talk to it and tell it what you want to do and it will take over from there. There are toys in here that the Administration suspects exist, but they have not actually seen them.’
‘Thanks, guys. I don’t know if I should be excited or dreading this!’
Crystal was coming alongside with Agate behind carrying as many Hangers as they could attach to the reconnaisance ships. Marko loved the Hangers and had followed their development over many years. Small, but incredibly fast, hugely manoeuvrable and beautifully sleek with some quality firepower to boot. They were designed specifically as hit-and-run fighters that could operate in or out of atmosphere. He had been checked out on them flying dozens of hours in total immersion simulators but never taken one into combat. Maybe today is the day, he thought to himself. He then smiled again, thinking of the dozens of aircraft he held clearances to fly but had not yet actually flown.
Veg who was standing behind him, clapped him on the shoulder. ‘Suit up, Marko. I know that you can pilot a Hanger. There is one waiting for you.’
He walked across to the suit container and told it what he was intending to do. The container opened, rotated behind him and started affixing the equipment he would need to stay alive, if the Hanger was destroyed around him. Everything was small, slimline and elegant, forming itself around his original suit, augmenting it further. The container then formed itself into an acceleration couch, so he sat down, and it enfolded him further into itself.
Marvelling at the tech, he looked at Veg and said, ‘This is beautiful equipment. I must talk to you about paying for it when this is over.’
Veg grinned. ‘Good, we shall do that. You bring the
bread and pickles and I shall steal a dozen of Harry’s finest dark beers. Patrick, we are ready to launch. Airlock, please.’
The suit came alive around him: it sealed itself as the gloves formed over his hands then the helmet slid over his head and a breathtaking HUD came alive; it really was as if there was nothing in front of his face — no suggestion of a faceplate — and he could smell everything as well. He reached out with his gloved hand and it felt as if he was actually touching sharp edges with no apparent thickness of material from the glove. Wherever he looked, the suit identified and tagged everything. Stephine eased her ship out of Basalt and slid up beside Agate and Crystal. They hung in space with the great Milky Way galaxy spread in all its splendour below them. As if on cue, three of the Hangers broke away from Agate’s hull and rolled across to their ship, locking on the outer plating, as Stephine said: ‘To your craft, people.’
Marko made to stand up, but the suit gently held him in place. He reached out and plucked Flint to him as the container-seat started to move him backwards and then up through the hull and into the Hanger’s cockpit. The container then reformed and created a couch inside the Hanger for Marko to lie down, with his upper body slightly elevated. There was more than enough space for Flint to reposition himself so that he could also see out through the canopy. Marko sent a quick message to Glint, imploring him to behave. Glint sent one back saying that he and Nail had work to do and to stop worrying.
There was a quiet chatter going on between the pilots of the three main ships and, as Marko listened in, he was very surprised to hear Colonel White’s voice coming from Crystal. He keyed the internal comms.
‘Stephine, is it a good idea to have Colonel White back on Crystal?’
A very stern-sounding Stephine answered promptly. ‘No. A decision was made by the Administration. I had no say in the matter. I told her privately that if she endangered us again I would really make her suffer.’
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