by J. N. Chaney
“That doesn’t look manmade,” observed Dressler, watching through the feed on my visor.
“I’m guessing a cave in,” I surmised.
“That explains how the birds got this far down here,” said Abigail.
I nodded, turning away from the doorway. “Try to watch your step, and don’t turn off your noise cancellation. We don’t want them to hear us.”
Everyone agreed, and we left the nest behind, moving away from the birds and towards the main corridor, the end of which housed our prize.
“Get that drive ready, Doc,” I ordered, ready to get out of the place as soon as possible. “I want Siggy connected as soon as we get there.”
“I already have it,” she said.
The terminal was inside a locked room, but it was already open when we arrived. “I already took the liberty during my previous uplink,” informed Sigmond.
“That’s our Cognitive,” said Abigail.
The terminal glowed with a faint golden hue as we entered the room. Dressler got to work immediately, quickly shuffling to the far wall and checking the pad. After a moment, she sighed. “It’s offline.”
“No power?” I asked, confused.
“But it’s glowing,” said Freddie.
“The terminal has power. The control unit doesn’t,” she explained.
“Can you fix it?” I asked.
She popped open the hatch and searched through its inner guts, finally pulling out a small cord. “Found it,” she replied , smiling. “Now, if you’ll hand me my satchel. Yes, right there.” She retrieved a small power core from inside, locked inside a little metal box. “Here we go. I simply need to insert this end and…”
The screen lit up.
“…Presto,” she said, leaning closer to the pad. As the screen came on, a series of symbols and numbers appeared, blinking several times before disappearing, followed by the U.I. Once the system had fully booted, Dressler tapped in a series of commands.
The terminal port slid open, revealing a holo display as well as a place to insert the thumbdrive. “Nice,” I said.
“We’re not done yet,” said Dressler. She handed Freddie the power core, then took the drive and stuck it into the terminal, observing the holo as she began typing.
“Is he in yet?” asked Abigail.
“Almost,” said Dressler. “I simply need to route additional power from the local grid, which should happen right about—”
A loud whirl ran through the machine at once, vibrating my feet.
“—there,” she finished. “Proceed when ready, Sigmond.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” said the Cognitive. “Accessing network now. Please wait.”
We stood there, waiting, letting the silence fill the room.
“There may be a problem,” alerted Sigmond.
“What is it?” asked Abigail.
“He needs more power,” answered Dressler, looking over the display.
“That is correct, Doctor. The local Tritium Core is nearly depleted,” said Sigmond.
“How do we fix that?” I asked.
Dressler crouched and rustled through her satchel. “I have a few more power cores we can use.”
“They won’t be enough, I’m afraid,” said Sigmond. “However, if I can shut down all non-essential devices in this facility, I may be able to free up what we require. In addition to your cores, it may be enough to provide enough power.”
“Do it,” I ordered.
“Yes, sir,” replied the Cognitive. Proceeding now.”
Dressler retrieved two more cores and several wires from inside her satchel.
“How are you going to hook all of those up?” inquired Abigail.
“I’ll have to daisy chain them,” she said.
“Daisy what, now?” I asked.
Instead of answering, she simply showed me by connecting each of the cores to each other, then to the one inside the wall. “Three cores acting as one,” she said, stepping away from the wall and looking at me. “Get it?”
“Sure,” I said, staring at the three glowing orbs. “Siggy, you making any progress on your end?”
A loud shattering sound came from down the hall just as the nearby light blew, creating a bright spark before finally going completely out. “I’m afraid I’m still working on it, sir.”
One of the birds cawed.
I exchanged a look with Abigail, who seemed to be thinking the same thing as me. “Might wanna hurry,” I exclaimed.
“Working,” said Sigmond.
Another loud squawk echoed from the nest, followed by a second. Each of us slowly turned to the doorway where Freddie was standing.
He gulped, wide-eyed and frozen.
I eased my pistol up, motioning with my head for him to move.
Freddie stepped aside, giving me a clear line of sight through the hall, towards the nesting room.
Abigail and I both raised our weapons.
I caught sight of Lucia’s staff in my peripheral, edging its way between me and Abby. The tip ignited in a dim, blue light, primed and ready as she held it there, waiting.
The fluttering of wings slowly filled the corridor.
One of the birds chirped, followed by a snapping sound, and then a series of metal clanks as something hit the floor.
That was when the flock emerged.
The birds came flying into the hall, many of them ramming straight into the wall as they violently tried to leave the room. The ones who didn’t fall continued towards us, flapping their wings to try and regain themselves. The other half resigned themselves to walking, clanking their talons along the floor and snapping their beaks.
The flock looked confused, angry, hungry, and afraid, all at the same time. They were headed our way, and there was only one thing we could do.
I took a deep breath, trying to focus on one of the many moving targets, and gently squeezed the—
The door slid shut right in front of us.
Abigail and I both flinched back, shocked, while Lucia jerked her staff away.
I turned to see Dressler standing with her finger on the control pad.
“What?” she asked, like we shouldn’t be surprised. “It was either that or you needlessly murder a flock of birds. I saw an alternative and went with it.”
I scoffed immediately. “We’ll just have to kill them when we leave. What good did that even do?”
“Plenty,” said Dressler, rather sure of herself. “Isn’t that right, Sigmond?”
I looked at Abigail, who shrugged. “What is she talking about? Siggy, you care to explain?”
“While the rest of you were birdwatching, I discovered a dormant drone. One of many, in fact, located beneath this facility,” explained the Cognitive.
“There’s a drone here?” asked Freddie.
“Indeed, there is, Mr. Tabernacle,” said Sigmond.
“We think we can use it to lure the birds away,” replied Dressler.
“And if that doesn’t work?” I asked.
“The drone is equipped with a weapon,” said Sigmond. “Should the birds prove unwilling to vacate on their own, we can always resort to a more traditional plan of action.”
* * *
Fortunately for the birds, they were stupid enough to follow the drone out of the corridor and back into the hall. The flying scrap metal was quick enough in the air to get their attention, while still managing to evade their attacks.
We watched them chase the drone back into the previous room, flapping their heavy wings as they bumbled into the hallway walls. How these birds lasted this long was anyone’s guess, but thanks to Dressler and Sigmond, they’ve at least survived the day.
“Mission accomplished,” said Abigail, once the birds were entirely out of the corridor.
“Indeed,” said Sigmond. “I have also successfully linked up with the defense network.”
“Fantastic!” exclaimed Dressler. She quickly regained her composure. “Pardon my excitement. I wasn’t certain if this would actually wor
k.”
“You what?” I asked.
She raised her brow. “Don’t tell me you did. Honestly, Captain, we’re dealing with dormant technology from two thousand years ago. It’s a miracle that it worked at all.”
“How about the next time you aren’t sure about a plan, you let me know,” I chastised.
“Sigmond,” said Dressler, quickly moving on. “Are you set for the next stage of the plan?”
“I believe I am,” he said.
Dressler examined the power cores, checking their connections. “How many drones can you access right now?”
“Fourteen hundred,” he answered. “The majority of them are exactly where we left them.”
“Near Aetna?” asked the doctor.
“Correct. They went dormant once I deactivated Hephaestus’s Capsule. However, there are other groups located at different manufacturing centers. Barring any objections, I will begin the reactivation process at once.”
“If they’re all the way back at Aetna, they probably won’t arrive until after the Union does,” replied Abigail.
“Indeed,” said Sigmond. “But as I said, there are many newly-created drones awaiting activation at their respective stations. I could have them here within a few hours.”
“How many are back near Aetna?” I inquired.
“Approximately one thousand, I’m afraid,” said Sigmond.
“That still gives us four hundred,” suggested Dressler.
“Four hundred and thirty-two, precisely,” corrected Sigmond.
Abby nodded. “That’s still a decent sized fleet.”
“It’ll have to do,” I said, turning back to the doorway. I hugged the wall with my back and peered out. “We ready to move?”
“Sigmond should be okay, so long as we leave the thumbdrive inserted,” said Dressler.
“Why can’t he just upload himself to it permanently?” asked Freddie.
“Technically, Sigmond isn’t here,” replied Dressler. “His consciousness—the majority of his program—is distributed between Titan and the Captain’s ship. Those systems are serving the same function as Hephaestus’ Capsule.” She picked up her satchel, sliding the strap over her shoulder. “Like Hephaestus, Sigmond can reach out with his mind and touch the network, but he isn’t a part of it. He remains separate.”
“In other words,” continued Abigail, “if the thumbdrive comes out, he’ll be disconnected. The same thing happened when we plugged him into Abaddon Station. Don’t you remember?”
“Sure, I do,” said Freddie. “I just wasn’t sure if things had changed, since he became a Cognitive.”
“He’s certainly different, but the same rules apply in this instance,” Dressler revealed, looking at me. “Shall we evacuate? I can set the door to lock itself down thirty seconds after our departure. No one will be able to enter, short of forcing their way in.”
I gave her a quick nod. “I’ve been ready to leave since we got here, Doc.”
Ten
We managed to get back to the surface in under an hour, the sun still halfway in the sky. I ordered my team to hurry to the ship. It wasn’t so much that I hated this place—although I did—but more that we couldn’t be down here when the Union showed up.
In fact, we had to make it look like we were somewhere else altogether.
After we loaded into The Renegade Star, I set a course for low orbit.
Before we even arrived, I had Freddie sitting in the strike ship, down in our cargo bay, ready to disembark.
“You set, Fred?” I asked, sitting beside Abigail in the cockpit.
“Ready, Captain,” he answered on the comm.
“You got the transmitter I gave you?” I asked.
“It’s right here beside me,” he responded.
“Good. Don’t lose that, you hear? It’s the only way the Union can detect that ship, once they get here.”
“Right,” he said.
“Okay, Freddie. Take her out and meet us near the city. We’ll see you there.”
The strike ship hovered its way gently out of the ship and into open space. From there, we both lit our engines and set our course for one of the other major cities, located on the western coast of the continent.
Freddie landed shortly before I did, but there were already over twenty other ships waiting in the field. While they were all essential, placed to give the illusion of a landing party, Freddie’s ship was the only one carrying a cloned transmitter onboard. When the Union finally showed, they’d detect the device and locate the ships, prompting them to investigate. If everything went smoothly, Brigham’s people would have boots on the ground shortly after their arrival, giving us the time we needed to decimate their fleet.
And that was just to start with.
I could already see Freddie standing outside the vessel as my landing gear opened and we touched down on the red grass.
Of course, that was only the first part of it. There was still a lot to do, with very little time to do it in.
I lowered the cargo bay door, waiting for Freddie to climb inside, and then activated thrusters. We were back in orbit in rapid time.
I grabbed the turn-key beneath the dash, right next to the whiskey, and spoke directly into it. “Athena, it’s Jace.”
“I hear you, Captain,” she answered, immediately. “I’m on the bridge with Mr. Malloy and Ms. Brie. We are ready to begin phase 2.”
“Is that Athena?” called Freddie from the lounge. “Where’s her voice coming from?”
“It’s the turn-key,” responded Dressler. “It carries her voice all over the ship.”
“Oh, that’s right,” he said.
“Both of you, be quiet and let the woman speak,” commanded Lucia.
I cleared my throat. “Athena, how long do we have before the Union gets here?”
“According to long range scans, approximately forty minutes,” she said.
“That’s close!” exclaimed Freddie.
“Athena, can Alphonse hear me?” I asked.
“Yes, Captain,” replied Alphonse.
“Just so we’re clear, you mind going over this insane plan of yours one last time?”
Abigail nodded. “Good idea.”
“Certainly,” said the Constable. “To begin with, we’ve already moved Titan to the other side of the system. We’ll open a tunnel on this end, which should give the impression that we’ve moved on to another location.”
“But you won’t,” I added.
“Correct,” he agreed. “We’ll still be nearby, hiding and waiting to launch a full assault on the fleet once they deploy their forces to the planet.”
“This is the part that worries me,” said Abigail.
“Which part?” I asked, tilting my head.
“Isn’t it obvious?” she asked. I stared at her, waiting for some clarification. When I didn’t answer, she continued. “The part where they tunnel their way inside another moon.”
“Oh,” I said, scratching my ear.
“I assure you, Ms. Pryar, there’s nothing to be concerned about,” Alphonse assured. “The three of us have gone over the calculations several times. It should work. The endpoint of every slip tunnel presents in a three-dimensional space—”
“Like an orb,” called Dressler from the other room.
“Exactly,” said Alphonse. “The tunnel exit will destroy anything in that space. In this case, the center of the moon. Titan will arrive inside and immediately activate its shield, but we believe the moon will remain intact.” He paused. “Long enough for our purposes, anyway.”
“I’ll have to take your word on that,” I said.
“Activating slip tunnel,” informed Athena.
The holo showed Titan forming a rift on the other side of the system, which they proceeded to enter. They disappeared in seconds, leaving us alone in the system, but only for a few minutes.
I leaned back in my chair. “Time to wait,” I said. “Siggy, you still with us? How’s that drone army of yours coming?”
/>
“En route now, sir,” he answered.
I nodded, sweeping my fingers along the holo and initializing the cloak. “I hate this part,” I muttered, right as we faded out of sight. “The waiting before a fight.”
* * *
Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long.
Ten minutes after Titan disappeared into the rift, a voice erupted from the turn-key, taking both Abigail and me by surprise. “Captain, this is Titan,” said Athena. “We’ve arrived inside the moon. All systems appear to be operational. Shields are active and holding.”
“Gods, Athena. Try a little warning next time,” I said.
“Apologies,” she answered. “Are you in position?”
“We’re all set,” responded Abigail.
“Excellent. Standing by for orders. Please, proceed with caution, Captain.”
“Same goes for you,” I said, stowing the turn-key safely beneath the dash.
I parked the ship on the other side of the moon, opposite the planet, and cut our engines. We’d remain in orbit for as long as it took, which could be anywhere between an hour and several, depending on how quickly Brigham took action on those ships down on the planet.
All things considered, I really didn’t know much about Brigham, except for the few times we’d spoken. In those instances, he’d appeared patient, even professional, in our exchanges. His voice commanded obedience and respect, like he should, by his very nature, be owed it. I could see how a charismatic man like that could rise to such a prominent role in the Union military.
But there had to be more to him than that, I knew, since charm could only get you so far. He had to want to be here, chasing me and my crew—chasing Lex.
The only question was why he wanted it, and there were only so many reasons for that, none of which I could hope to guess. Not yet, anyway. Not until I spoke with him again or saw him with my own eyes.
“I’ll be right back,” I said to Abigail, unstrapping my harness and getting to my feet.
She gave me a nod and reached for a canteen, which she’d previously filled with herbal tea. She took a sip and closed her eyes to do what she called “some light meditation.”