by Tammy Salyer
“Just bouncing some queries around, trying to see who’s in the area. I’d like to avoid any Corps ships if we can.”
I nod, dropping it. Trying to compete against the hop’s rattles and revving is more trouble than it’s worth. Everyone else lounges with their eyes closed, probably wishing they could catch some real sleep. The last three days have collapsed together like a waking nightmare, hopping from Tunis City to Obal 6, and now to meet the Sphynx on the moon Letum Uti, near Obal 5. From there, Keum Libre is only another day-and-a-half flight time.
We’ve been in the air thirteen hours with another five to go. Rob has been steadfast at the helm, not taking a break until now. I’m not sure how he’s going to hold up once we get aboard the Sphynx, but I’m hoping that we’ll all be able to take a few hours down time in the relative comfort of the bigger ship. I miss the Sphynx. Not just because it has more space to spread out and get some real shut-eye, but because it and the colony of Agate Beach were home to me for the last three months. More home than anyplace has felt in a lot of years, and I’ve grown attached, despite my own rules against it.
We left Quantum and Hirota behind with basic instructions; give us seven days, then do whatever they want with the footage and data. They have almost no incentive to follow these directions, but Vitruzzi must think they’ll comply—or maybe she doesn’t see any drawbacks if they don’t. Quantum agreed to forward any message that came from T’Kai on to the Sphynx, but Vitruzzi made it clear she doesn’t expect one. As far as she’s concerned, we’re on our own and whatever happens to T’Kai is now in the hands of fate.
Based on the intel from Brady, we’re gambling on Keum Libre staying minimally guarded. T’Kai may suspect we’ll try and rescue the Beachers, but he may not expect our attempt to come so soon. Even though Vitruzzi had given him an hour to respond to her demands, we’d left before he had a chance. He’ll expect us to be on the move, so it won’t surprise him if we don’t have a live-feed link with him next time he tries to contact us. If we have any luck, he’ll be able to trace the transmissions to Bi Schtum and look for us there first. Whatever we do, the mission’s success hinges on us making our moves before they make theirs.
Which is exactly what Vitruzzi is thinking. I glance at her and realize she’s not sleeping. She sits back in the jump seat, her eyes fixed on a spot in the fuselage wall across from her. She’s holding something in her hand and every now and then her thumb rubs along the edge of it. A photograph. It doesn’t take much guesswork to figure out who it’s of. Probably her dead daughter, maybe also her dead husband. Dead because of T’Kai. His experiments, his fault.
David and I were aboard the PCA Thor’s Hammer patrolling the Spectras when the Crowers Croup broke out. The Admin kept it quiet for as long as they could after the virus got loose. But soon, word about the Corps being sent in to quarantine masses of citizens in the Obals and rumors that the dead were being burned started to spread. Fast. The Soldier’s Rebellion erupted like a gas torch, chaos sweeping through the ranks too swiftly to contain. There was too much happening to be certain of anything, and David and I lost track of distant friends in the Corps who were assigned to the Obals. After the flash fire that launched the Rebellion burned up its fuel, the Admin went to work hunting down those responsible for it, and David and I kept our heads down and kept moving. There was no way to find out if we’d lost any friends, and no point in looking anyway.
For people like Vitruzzi, people who’d shaken hands with the deadly virus and seen their own families destroyed by it, there was no clean break, no easy excuse to forget the past. I can’t imagine how much pain she’s in, having just been face-to-face with the man who caused the obliteration of her whole world. And who’s doing the same thing to her new life a second time. I was closer to completely losing my shit than I care to remember when I thought I’d lost David, but she seems to be staying calm and collected. At least on the surface. If she does lose it, there’s no telling what she’ll do.
* * *
The hop doesn’t have a ship-to-ship airlock seal, so once we arrive in Letum Uti we set it down in a field outside a scratch of a town and wait for the Sphynx. The hop’s transmitter is still blown, but Vitruzzi had prearranged the pickup with Brady. The shuttle has already arrived by the time we land, and the six of us load up.
Karl is flying the shuttle and turns around with a grin to greet Vitruzzi as we settle into our seats. “It’s good to see you again, Captain.”
“Same to you.”
He nods at La Mer and David, who’ve taken the seats directly behind the cockpit, and then lets his eyes find mine. “Aly.”
“Karl.”
“Can we get the fuck out here before some farmer decides to come see why we planted a hop in their field?” Thompson asks.
The ramp door closes and we get airborne.
* * *
“Radar picked up two gunships from inside atmo before we left KL, at least that’s what we think they were. We couldn’t get a positive read, but we didn’t want to be IDed, so we kept our distance. We weren’t followed.” The crew has gathered inside the Sphynx’s galley for Brady to lay out what they’d discovered on the prison-rock recon.
“You sure?” Vitruzzi asks from her seat next to him.
“Hundred percent sure, Captain,” Venus responds over the intercom from the cockpit.
“Maybe they were bringing in more prisoners,” Rob says.
He and Karl stand at opposite ends of the room and do everything in their power to keep from looking in each other’s direction. It’s been two weeks since I’ve seen Karl. What will he think of my decision to join Rob and buy back a citizen’s life? Am I lying to myself if I think he’ll even care?
“We thought of that, and if it’s the case, they’ll have to drop them on the offshore rig. Maybe it’s a failsafe so the prisoners already on the rock can’t attempt a takeover or hijack a ship. It’s too long to swim to the platform, so we have to assume the only way out of the colony is by boat. The colony itself is spread out along the top of a bluff about three hundred meters above the ocean’s surface,” Brady continues, outlining the buildings with his index finger on the scans spread across the table. “There’s a desalination plant at the cliff’s edge that has a pipe dropping down to the sea, and a cargo elevator runs along it, terminating at a dock.”
“Which means to get there we’ll have to take a boat from the platform,” Doug Mason states.
“Right, and first we’ll have to disarm whatever security runs it,” Brady finishes.
“I can’t believe there’s nowhere to ground a ship on land.” I’m seated at one of the galley tables with a plate of food in front of me. I’m not really hungry, but there’s no telling when I’ll get another chance for a meal. If you live on the run, you don’t hesitate to take advantage of opportunities as soon as they present themselves. “They had to set up at least a temporary building site at some point to even get the platform and desal plant built.”
“There used to be,” Rajcik announces, his voice a marauding whisper that kills all other sound. “When I got out of there, it was just grass and dirt. No trees, barely even any bushes. There were two landing zones near the colony and half a dozen buildings. “Now”—he stares at the scans—“this. Nothing but jungle.”
David and Vitruzzi exchange a glance and he says, “There’s something you should know. Something the wire-rat told us.”
He gives a brief explanation of the soil compound and its dangers, finishing up with: “It looks like KL may have been one of their original testing grounds for whatever that stuff is. We may even be looking at a dead world.” His expression blanches uncertainly for a moment. “I mean, dead in terms of the prison population.”
No one likes the sound of that, but Brady says, “No. That isn’t the case. We picked up signs of life—of people—when we did the recon. Besides, we all heard the security squad that killed Bodie say they were bringing the settlers here.”
The room is silent for
a minute as everyone contemplates the possibility that we may be on a wild goose chase. It doesn’t go on long before David continues, sounding as if no one is even vaguely entertaining any doubts, “It doesn’t look like we could get anything bigger than a shuttle under that canopy, but if we wait for those Corps ships to leave, we can probably access the platform. Do we know what kind of security they have on site?”
“Nothing above decks that we could make out through long-range images,” Brady responds. “We couldn’t get too close, but the main part of the platform is just open landing tarmac and a small building, probably the command center. Looks like most of the structure is underwater, which makes it that much harder to get to.”
“And then there are the drones in the air,” Desto adds.
“If we can get the Sphynx in range, I think I can neutralize the drones’ sentry-net by modifying the trans-worm I built for the satellites. They’ll still be out there and they’ll still be weaponized, but they won’t have the capacity to fire on us,” La Mer says.
“How would that work?” Rob asks.
“It’s a matter of scrambling their priority matrix.” He takes a deep swallow from his cup, obviously secure in his topic, and continues, “Basically, we short-circuit their decision systems; they’ll see us, but the AI won’t be able to decide on a direct course of action. Their routine patrol programs will stay the same, so they’ll move in the right direction, they just won’t be able to identify us as a threat.”
“This ship has an armed shuttle. Why not just blow them out of the sky?” Thompson asks.
“No, this is better than shutting them down completely because the personnel on the platform will be less suspicious. See, the sentries will still be active, just not reactive. Admin teams won’t know they’re not doing what they’re supposed to.”
Finally, something that might actually work in our favor. Heads nod enthusiastically. Brady asks, “You sure you can do it?”
“Yes, definitely. Quantum showed me a few things that will help. I’m not sure how, but he’s been inside some of the Admin security programs. He’s…” He pauses, a look of concern washing over his features, and his eyes shift around the room, then drop to the floor. “I don’t know. He’s the best wire-rat I’ve ever seen.”
Desto picks up the thread. “Okay, sounds like we’ve got a way in. Time it so there’s no Corps gunships in the area, cut off the drones, get on the platform. There can’t be more than a few security personnel. Maybe we don’t even have to engage. We just lock them in and shake our asses on over to the colony.”
“That’s a good idea,” Karl says, “but they’ll probably have submersibles. We won’t even see them coming if they launch.”
“The Sphynx has enough surprises on board to handle that,” Desto responds.
Shaking his head, Karl says, “Yeah, but not if they’re firing torpedoes. We’d never know what hit us.”
Desto, out of ideas for the moment, gives him a disgusted look.
“So, we’ll probably have to neutralize whoever’s in the structure,” Brady cuts in. “Control them enough to be able to make a trip over to the penal colony and get the settlers out.”
“We’ll have a better chance if we keep the element of surprise,” Karl says.
Rajcik’s hasn’t said anything in a while and I turn to look at him, not trusting his silence any more than I trust his words. His face is tight with contempt and it sets my teeth on edge. He catches me looking and brings his dark eyes to bear on mine, silently daring me to call him out.
“What do you think, Rajcik?” I ask. “Have you been inside that structure?”
He hesitates before answering. “For inprocessing, yeah. When I was eighteen.”
“What can you tell us about it?” Vitruzzi asks.
“Nothing useful, sweetheart.” He tries to get off without saying anything, but the weight of a room full of cold stares compels him. “It’s been twenty years since I was down there and I only saw one area—where they tag and outfit new prisoners.”
“Any suggestions for hobbling their security?”
He sweeps us with a flat, death-mask glare. “Kill everyone you see.”
“That’s great,” Rob replies. “Do you have anything constructive to add?”
He acts like he didn’t hear Rob and begins twisting his head, first left than right. His neck bones crack hideously. Finally, he brings his attention back to the room. “You want constructive? Here’s my advice—forget about your friends. You’ll die trying to infiltrate that rock, and they’re most definitely worm food. Your issue—the issue—is T’Kai, and from what Thompson tells me, you’ve let that one slide through your fingers. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve done what I can to help you people, and every minute I spend listening to your bullshit is a minute wasted.”
I lean across the table until my eyes are level with his and seethe. “No one’s stopping you, János. You can walk out of that hold any time you want.” Straight into emptiness.
His jaw clenches, but he clamps down on his building fury and leers at me instead. “Your charm, Aly, is that you always say what you’re thinking.”
“This isn’t getting us anywhere,” Vitruzzi interrupts. “The fact of the matter is we’ve done what we can about T’Kai. Quantum will wavecast everything in another couple of days, and it will be up to anyone who sees it to deal with T’Kai. He can’t suppress the information once it’s out, and we can’t attack the entire Admin. This is the only way to help the settlers and bring T’Kai to some kind of justice.”
“Justice?” Rajcik says. “I’m a little confused about your idea of justice, Vitruzzi. Leaving to chance what a single bullet could accomplish is a coward’s way out. I expected your team to face T’Kai, not run away and let a wire-rat do your work.”
“Shut up, Rajcik.” My patience is getting close to snapping.
Rajcik knows it and taunts me, “Or what, Aly?”
A dark look from Vitruzzi convinces me to drop it. I glare at Rajcik, daring him to keep going, but he seems content to resume ignoring me. It’s Thompson who quietly returns my stare, his eyes eerily similar to the beady, ferocious gaze of a Flat Rat.
“How many levels are there, Rajcik? Do you know anything at all about the structural design?” Vitruzzi presses.
With a final contemptuous grunt, he spills it. “It’s basic. Keypad door locks, security screening at all corridor junctions, hermetic seals on all doors. If I had to guess, I’d say three levels, but I’ve never been below the first. Could be more, could just be the one.”
“But if it’s underwater, there’s only one path of attack. They can’t call for backup from outside. That should make it easier to create a bottleneck and hold their security in check,” Karl says.
“To keep them in check, we may have to divide into two teams,” I insert. “One to hold the platform, the other to get on land.”
“Some of the settlers still have their embedded trackers—Zeta, Jade, Fowler, a few others. We can trace them, and they should be able to lead us to the rest,” Venus adds over the com.
Everyone puts in his or her piece as we continue constructing the plan. Hearing it spoken aloud helps us feel like we have control, like our actions will bring about the results we expect. A team’s faith in a good plan is as important as their ability to carry it out, and we have plenty of both. What we don’t have is any guarantee Quantum will transmit the footage, or even live to try.
THIRTY-ONE
Sleep is impossible. I lay in my old bunk like a petrified log, every muscle rigid, hypersensitive to the rhythms of the air exchanger and the ship’s familiar hums, dings, and creaks. Venus and Bodie take—took—care of her better than most parents care for their kids, but she’s still older than a lot of the ships that have seen the AUs the Sphynx has. My mind races over the plan, looking for holes and alternatives should anything happen that we don’t expect—and we can be sure something will. But years in the business of crime and Corps have taught me that you
can still prepare for it, even if you can’t know what’s coming.
After an hour or so of useless tossing and turning, I get up, get dressed, and head for the galley.
“I absolutely think you did the right thing, Jeremy. No question.”
Desto is talking to La Mer as I enter, and Karl and David sit around the table they all share.
“What’s the right thing?” I ask, returning David and Karl’s nods.
“Have a seat, sweet thing,” Desto says. His suggestive tone helps calm my frantic thoughts, and it hits me how much I’m going to miss this kind of camaraderie. It’s this familiarity and comfort with each other that have made this crew my family and Agate Beach my home. My stomach twists a little. Eventually, I’ll have to face the fact that I may never see any of them again.
“What’s the matter, babe? You look a little pale,” he asks.
I shake it off, not ready to admit my decision to leave. David’s eyes follow me as I pull a seat from under the table. “Nothing, just can’t sleep. Looks like I’m not the only one.”
The chair I take is directly across from Karl. His scrunched brow overshadows his eyes as they bounce from me to the table and back. His naturally stoic composure rarely cracks, and seeing him looking uncertain gives me a momentary, irrational spark of hope. Can he still care about me?
To hide it, I repeat my question, “What did you do, La Mer?”
The way he hesitates before answering has me even more interested, but he eventually spills it. “I shorted the com transmitter on Cross’s hop before we left Obal 6.”
“What? Why?”
“I just…just thought it was a good idea. It seemed better to make sure no one could, uh, inadvertently send any information that could endanger us.”
“You mean you don’t trust Cross.” I don’t have to ask; the answer has been clear since the day the Red Horizon landed at the Beach. And I have to hand it to him, he’s smart and thinks on his feet. Besides, it’s done, no point in arguing.
The room is quiet for a few seconds, then David pushes back from the table abruptly. “So Desto, let’s you and me walk through the armory. I want to make sure I know what’s in stock in case we need it.”