Both Finnegan and Croker made last-minute petitions to join the mission. Decker let Kennedy deal with Croker while she handled Moira. She withheld the news that if they’d conceivably needed a third team member, it would definitely have been Kapoor or Quan – not an inexperienced teenager. Instead, Deck thanked the girl for wanting to volunteer but emphasized that this was in no way a suitable training exercise they were embarking on.
“But you both said with the better scanners the trip would be safe,” Finnegan pleaded.
“Safe for experienced Tactical personnel does not equal safe for civilians.”
“I’m not a civilian!”
“To the UDC you are.” Naiche put a hand on Moira’s shoulder. “Listen, if you really want to become part of the UDC someday, you’re going to have to learn some tough lessons. Starting with—”
“I know, being brave.”
“Oh no, much worse than that – taking orders.”
Finnegan’s shoulders drooped and her lower lip stuck out for a second. She pointed at Kayatennae. “What about your dog? He’s going along – isn’t he a civilian, too?”
“No, as I told you before, he’s a UDC corpsman, third class.”
“Is he really?” Finnegan asked.
Lindstrom leaned in to answer, “He most certainly is. Lieutenant Decker may have her faults, as do we all, but veracity is not one of them.” He stared Moira down, daring her to contradict him. She did not dare.
To hide her smile at that exchange, Decker turned and listened in on Kennedy’s very similar conversation with Croker. Con was saying, “In most cases, yes, a third person would be a valuable asset but the Maykure told us that the Intabet are shy and reclusive in the extreme. We don’t want to overwhelm them with a bigger group than necessary.”
Before Croker – or anyone else could muster up additional arguments, Kennedy clapped his hands together. “Well, we better get going.” He and Decker saluted Lindstrom and pledged to check in periodically. Con then kissed and hugged his wife in a much more affectionate farewell, also promising to check in with her.
Maddox stepped in to offer her effusive and lengthy appreciation for Decker and Kennedy taking on this mission, followed by her wishes for a safe journey. When they simply nodded in response, she asked where they were picking up the boat and if they needed any assistance with it.
Decker pointed to the 3-foot long navy-blue canister slung over her shoulder. “I have it right here.”
“That’s your boat?” interjected Vania Betang.
“It expands to a skiff that’ll easily hold three people.”
“Oh, much like your sling-bridges.”
“Almost exactly like them.” Deck saw that Con had already started towards the trail leading to the nearest float-way. Naiche said, “Let’s go, Kayatennae,” and hurried to catch up.
Together they easily pried open the first float-way entrance doors they came to and, after scanning for veil-worms, quickly deployed the skiff. Decker switched on the wide-angle lamp on the bow to light the way ahead, hit the power drive – and they were off. She looked back at Con, who was straddling the stern seat, neatly rearranging their gear. “What do you suppose it’s going to be like in here if it starts quaking?”
Kennedy kept at his task while saying, “I want to suppose that’s not going to happen.” He settled into his seat and smiled at her. “We haven’t had any seismic activity in days. Let’s keep a good thought.”
“Copy that.” Naiche checked the scanner map and pointed out where they would need to veer off this particular tunnel. “There’s three more switch-offs we’ll have to make and then it looks like that last tunnel will take us right under what Kinlea Cassay called the Intabet’s ‘mountain fortress’. As long as all of those float-ways are still open and intact, we should get there by early evening at the latest.”
“I hope Kinlea’s right about there being some kind of transport up to Intabah.” He stretched out his right leg. “Otherwise, we’ll be seeing how truly recovered I am.”
“It will be interesting to see how much of anything the Maykure and Featay have right about the Intabet. Seeing how wrong they were about each other’s societies.”
Kennedy gave a short bark of laughter. “Let’s face it, knowing how few Tolutay life-signs there are in those mountains – we’ll be lucky to even find some Intabet. Especially if they’re as reclusive as the Maykure say. And we’ll be even luckier if we don’t run into some peerazu up there.”
Decker nodded in agreement but still felt the customary mission-launch excitement – even though she knew this was likely to be an uncertain adventure.
They’d been sailing along peacefully for less than thirty-minutes before they got confirmation that the reconfigured scanners definitely worked. To give credit where it was due, it was nearly a tie between the hand scanner and Kayatennae for sounding the alarm about a veil-worm ahead. The scanner overwhelmingly won out in giving a precise location and Naiche was able to dispatch the creature with a few blasts of her pulse pistol.
Con stared at the worm’s daunting corpse as they floated by it. “I gotta give you props, Deck, I don’t know that I’d be on this trip if one of those things had dragged me under.”
“First of all, you absolutely would so be here, and in the second place – thanks, but I’ve already gotten more praise than I deserve for this mission.”
“What does that mean?”
She stared off into the gloom ahead before answering. “When I was walking Kay early this morning, I scanned for peerazu and I got to thinking about what Tal would say about us charging head-first into the lair of those monsters. Do I actually want to help the Featay and Maykure, or am I just being an adrenaline junkie?” She sighed heavily before admitting, “Or maybe I’m really just looking for a distraction from…whatever the hell’s happening on Jileesa.”
The only answer for a moment was the lapping sound of water around them, then Kennedy said, “All of those reasons could be true at the same time, you know. Didn’t you have Captain Crozier for Ethics at The Rock?” Deck trusted that this was going somewhere relevant and agreed that she had. “Then you should remember what he said about human motives never being absolutely ‘pure.’ Cut yourself some slack – this was a great idea and if we succeed, we’ll have done a wonderful thing for the Tolutay. And if we don’t succeed – at least we tried.” She nodded and Con asked, “Did you get any sleep last night or did you pace your quarters worrying about the Lovelace?”
“I got some sleep.” Deck avoided his gaze but could still feel Con’s eyes boring into her, waiting for the whole truth. Her conscience nagged her that his genuine concern deserved that much – so she gave it. “I did wake up at 0200 hours, and I couldn’t go back to sleep because I was thinking….”
“Thinking what?”
With great effort she gave voice to the fear which haunted her. “That they could already be dead and I wouldn’t even know it.”
Kennedy leaned towards her and in an urgent tone protested, “I don’t think so – I bet if they were dead, you would have sensed it by now.” When Naiche shook her head in disagreement, Con insisted, “It’s true. When my mom contacted me to tell me that my dad had died, I immediately knew something was wrong. Long before she said anything.”
“I used to think that way. When my grandfather first told me that my mother had died, I refused to believe it. I said that I would have felt it if she was really gone. And then, when the UDC didn’t find her body, I was more convinced than ever that she was still alive out there – somewhere.”
“When did you finally believe she was dead?”
“At her memorial service, when Ricci gave me her locket.” Deck patted the moonstone necklace that, as always, was under her uniform jacket. “She hardly ever took it off, and she never let it out of her sight. When he put it around my neck…I knew. And I learned that the people you love can slip out of this world without you ever feeling it.”
“Okay – but that doesn’t
mean you’re right about Ricci and Tal being dead.”
“I know. Lindstrom even told me that he has more faith in Ricci than any other captain he’s served under. I guess, the least I can do is try to have as much faith as he does.”
“Coming from Lindstrom – that’s saying a lot. He’s not a man who hands out praise lightly – or even readily.” Kennedy’s tone grew reassuring. “I bet anything, when we get back from this mission, it’ll be to some good news from the Lovelace.” He sat up straighter, peering into the darkness ahead. “Step one, though, is getting back from this mission.”
“You bet. First switch-off coming up.”
***
The second float-way was much narrower than the first and the water in it far more turbulent. Decker concentrated on piloting the skiff while Kennedy manned the scanner looking for veil-worms. After an hour she’d begun to hope there weren’t any worms in this float-way but the scanner and Kay soon let her know her wish was a vain one.
“Two up head,” Con announced. “Right in our path.”
Deck checked her own scanner and tried to steer away from them, but her goal proved impossible. “It looks like they’re actively tracking the boat. I think they’re intending for us to go right over them.”
“Probably want to try and tip us over. I’ll get ‘em.” Con fired repeatedly into the water. “Slow down,” he yelled, “one’s still alive.” Decker throttled the skiff into lowest power and watched as Kennedy endeavored to kill the second worm, but it was nimbly evading every shot. When he stretched a hand back towards her, Deck knew instinctively what Con wanted. She pulled out a particle rifle and handed it over.
One blast was enough to exterminate the stubborn creature – but it also displaced enough water to nearly tip the skiff over. Decker barely managed to maintain control of the boat and steer through the wave. Sopping wet, she heaved a sigh of relief and watched as Kayatennae shook off – splashing his excess water onto the two humans. Con laughed and said, “Thanks, Kay, I wasn’t quite wet enough.” He looked at Naiche. “I sure hope we don’t have to do that again. They’re a bitch to kill in the water.”
“Just think how much worse it would be if we couldn’t detect them.”
“If it’s all the same to you, I’d really rather not think about that.”
After three more treacherous encounters with veil-worms in that float-way, Naiche and Con were both soaked to the skin and thoroughly drained – physically and mentally. When Kennedy suggested breaking for a late lunch and a rest, Deck eagerly agreed. She steered the skiff over to the platform and docked it securely. They both climbed wearily up on the platform with Kay following in one graceful leap.
Decker got out two meal bars while Con took the opportunity to contact first Lindstrom, then Lateef on his comm-link. His report was honest but shaded a bit to the optimistic side – especially with Aqila. When they’d both rested long enough to face the prospect of tackling more veil-worms, Decker checked their progress on the scanner map. “Looks like we’re about half-way through – but we’re gonna reach the end a lot later than I’d anticipated.”
Kennedy climbed back into the skiff, saying, “I sure hope that was the worst half of this trip.”
Silently agreeing with that wish, Decker followed him into the boat. Once Kay had jumped in and settled at her feet, Deck started the motor and steered into the stream. They weren’t bothered by any more veil-worms in the remainder of that float-way, so Naiche was hoping the rest of their journey was destined to be trouble-free. She steered into the next section which was wider and had the swiftest current they’d seen yet.
A short while into that leg of the journey, Kay stared down into the water and let out a low, menacing growl. “What is it?” Con asked.
“I don’t know,” Deck answered, checking her scanner. “Nothing’s coming up on the sensors. Maybe he thought he saw—” Before she could finish her sentence, the growls morphed into furious barks. “What the hell are you seeing, Kay?” Her attention was wrenched away from the dog by the skiff’s sudden listing to the port side. Deck managed to steer out of it but as soon as she did, the boat once again nearly tipped over.
Kennedy yelled, “What the hell is going on?”
“No idea.” As soon as she dared, she looked back at Con to suggest docking, so she could check the propulsion mechanism. To her horror, a sinister wave lurched up and lashed Kennedy across the shoulders, dragging him into the water.
She immediately cut the power and rushed to help Con back into the skiff. The water was actively fighting her and it took a second for her terror-stricken mind to realize that the wave was actually a camouflaged veil-worm. Deck drew her pistol but hesitated – afraid of hitting Con with a stray blast. She struggled to maintain her grip on the slippery tail of the worm, knowing that letting go would mean almost certain death for Kennedy.
Kay joined in the desperate struggle and between the two of them, they managed to unfurl a three-foot section from Kennedy’s body. Deck decided she had to take action and used her pulse pistol to bombard the portion of the worm in her grasp. She didn’t stop firing until Con broke above the water, gasping for breath, the dead creature sliding off his body. She hurriedly pulled him into the skiff and steered for the platform. Before she could reach it, another worm, again disguised as a wave, attacked the boat. Since she had to guess where the rest of the worm was situated in the water, it took several shots with the particle rifle to kill it. Deck strafed the water with a barrage of blasts to scare off any others in the region. Without waiting for the water to settle, she raced for the platform as fast as the skiff could manage while still staying afloat and docked securely at the platform.
Deck watched, amazed at Con’s fortitude, as he automatically started gathering up some of their gear. Naiche grabbed the remainder and all three of them launched themselves onto the platform. “We’ve got to get out of here!” Con ordered. “We can’t detect them and there might be more in the vicinity.”
“You can take a minute to catch your breath – Kay can still sense them.”
“No offense to Kay, but I’ll rest better outside.” Decker was about to object when Con added, “Yes, even with peerazu out there. At least we can see those.”
***
Dazed and demoralized, Kennedy and Decker had been outside the float-way for less than ten minutes, recovering from their ordeal and discussing their options when they spotted the first peerazu. Con mused, “Wonder how far we’ll get on foot before they notice us and we’re forced to engage?”
Still tracking the peerazu’s flight high above, Deck asked, “Which way are we heading? Back to the Aurora or onward to Intabah?” She pointed at the mountain range, easily visible from their present location.
“Good question. Whichever way we go, I’m guessing we won’t make it all the way without facing down at least one peerazu. Especially since we’re so far from the Aurora, right now.”
Rubbing her hands restlessly against her thighs, Deck asked, “What do you think went wrong with the sensors? Why did we stop detecting the worms?”
“No idea – but I think it’s time to check back in with home base and ask the people who might know.” Without waiting for Decker to respond, Kennedy contacted Lindstrom via comm-link and filled him in on their current situation.
As soon as Lindstrom had been fully informed of their predicament, he quickly conferenced Lateef into the discussion.
Foreseeing her opening request, Kennedy automatically sent recordings of all of their sensor data to Lateef for evaluation. She said, “Nothing is immediately obvious. I’m going to need some time to evaluate these data and formulate a resolution.”
Lindstrom asked, “Can you two hunker down and spend the night in your present location to buy Scientific some time? It would certainly seem safer than proceeding in either direction on foot. And I will not sanction your re-entering the float-ways at this juncture.”
“Yes, sir, we can do that,” Con said. “The less movement an
d noise we make, the less likely we’re gonna attract some peerazu.” He signed off and turned to Decker. “Ready for a camp-out?”
She nodded and answered staunchly, “Why not? We’ve certainly camped in worse conditions than these – and it sure as hell beats blindly facing down those veil-worms.”
As they started examining the state of their gear, Decker observed, “I notice that you didn’t tell Aqila about you ending up in the drink with a veil-worm wrapped around your body.”
Con threw his hands wide in acknowledgment of the omission. “I’ll tell her all about it when we get back – I didn’t want to worry her, right now.”
“Yeah, that’s probably for the best.”
Her agreement surprised Con – he’d anticipated a bit more pushback about his evasion. After a second, he asked, “Would you rather have not known about the Lovelace being in danger?”
“As a Tactical officer, it’s my job to know things like that, so I’ve learned to live with it. However, speaking purely on a personal level….” Decker hesitated, obviously giving it some thought. “If everything turns out well, then, it would have been nice to be spared the worry. On the other hand, if the worst happens….” She paused again, visibly swallowing down her emotions. “…then I’m glad I’ll be prepared.” Her voice gained resolution as she added, “But that doesn’t apply to you and Aqila, here – the worst is not gonna happen. You’re gonna come out of this just fine.”
Con had to smile at Deck’s attempt to speak that favorable outcome into reality. “As my mother likes to say – from your mouth to God’s ear.”
“Yeah.” Naiche gave a short huff of laughter. “It’s high time Bik’ehgo’iindáń started listening to me.”
Chapter 16
Sins of the Fathers
“The gods visit the sins of the fathers upon the children.” Euripides, Phrixus
The Risks of Dead Reckoning Page 18