"Can you see anything up there?" he asked, rising to his feet.
She looked up. "There's space behind the grid. And certainly the analysis says the CO2 level is decreasing."
He hefted the grapple gun. "Let's see how I go with this." Hopefully the expanding grapples would catch on what was left in the vent, and hold his weight.
She held out a hand. "Let me. I can be absolutely accurate."
He handed her the gun. "The grapple needs to catch on something substantial without blocking the entrance."
Morgan stared at the opening for a moment, and then fired. With a soft phut the arrow-shaped grapple shot up into the gap, a cable trailing in its wake. Now the cable hung down, swinging gently.
Ravindra pulled the cable hard, lifting his feet off the ground to test its strength.
"Looks okay," Morgan said.
The opening seemed a long way away, looking up at it from here. Not so far, really. Twice his height, maybe a little more. The wall wasn't smooth, so he could find toe holds. One more deep breath and he began pulling himself up the rope with his hands, finding footholds on the rock. His shoulder ached, and his muscles burned.
One last surge, and he had his head in the hole, his shoulders dragging on the edge. The filling material broke away, falling into the cavity. He wriggled, forcing himself inside, then reached up with his fingers, and found a ledge. Holding tight, he dragged himself up. Now the other hand. His foot scrabbled for purchase, bore his weight. At last, he tilted his head to look above him. The helmet lamp's light beam lanced through the dark of a soaring space. A cave. The sensors on his suit indicated this was breathable atmosphere. He slid back the helmet. The air was cold, tasting of salt and sea and something else, something fetid.
Her voice drifted up to him. "Ashkar?"
He pulled his body out of the tunnel and turned. "I'm okay, the air is breathable. There's a short shaft from the room into a cavern. I'll toss down the rope." He accompanied the words with the action.
"Ready," she called up to him.
Wishing he was a decade younger, Ravindra pulled her up.
When her fingers grasped the remains of the ledge, he gripped her under her arms, and drew her into the cave.
She slid back the helmet. Her forehead glistening, her chest heaving, she sat beside him. "At least we know there's a way out of here."
"You're sure?"
"Oh yes. Whatever caused those," she pointed at detritus at the base of the cave, "must be able to get in and out."
Ravindra looked where she'd indicated. "Droppings. That explains the smell."
She nodded. "Probably from those."
His heart missed a beat. Eyes reflected the soft light of the helmet lamp. Dark creatures hung down from the roof. "What are they?"
"No idea. But they're pretty big, so where they get out must be, too. Turn your lamp off."
The darkness became absolute. He couldn't see Morgan, couldn't see his own hand. But he heard the stealthy sound of something moving. Hoping Morgan had had enough time to use her enhanced vision, he turned the light back on. A dark creature, half his height, and solid, blinked at him from less than a body-length away. It backed off, its pointed head lowered.
"Oh, fuck." Morgan's lips twisted. "Leave the lights on."
A soft plop behind the beast was quickly followed by another thud.
Ravindra lifted the laser-lance, and switched it on. The closest creature shrank back. "I think it's getting reinforcements. Do you know where to go?"
"This way." Morgan scrambled off sideways. "There's light coming around this corner. Her laser-lance flared blue in the dark. More eyes stared down at them from the invisible ceiling.
Ravindra stumbled over an outcrop and just managed to right himself. Falling over wasn't going to be a good move, neither was losing the lights. They could end up as dinner. Or at least, dead.
"There's a corner here." Morgan put a hand on his arm. "Around to your left."
His fingers clutching rough rock, Ravindra backed around slowly, the laser-lance held like a magic sword in front of him. Had it flickered? Oh, Kotluk, he hoped not.
"A bit further," Morgan said. "There's daylight up ahead, around the next bend."
He'd never heard sweeter words. The laser-lance sputtered, flashed, and died. A flurry of movement rose in the darkness in front of him. Morgan ranged up next to him, brandishing her laser-lance. The eyes blinked out. "Just a few more steps."
He inched around the rock, feeling with his feet, the light a glimmer of whiteness to his left.
"Looks like those things don't like daylight." Morgan shut down her lance.
The eyes didn't follow. Ahead, brightness flooded through a crack. Suppressing a sigh of relief, Ravindra picked his way over the rocky surface, while the distant boom of the ocean hitting the rocks grew louder. He'd be glad to get out of here, and back to space. Cool air moved around his face, smelling of smoke and brine.
"Why is it we always end up underground?" he said.
Morgan snorted. "I guess if you go looking for old stuff, that's always a possibility."
She reached the crack first, a gash wide enough to easily allow their bodies to pass. The wind blew here, tossing her hair around her shoulders. The expression on her face when she looked back worried him. "What?"
"I'm not too sure how we're going to get down."
He joined her, gazing out over the seascape. Not a klick away, the other island that formed the channel towered out of the sea, if anything even steeper, and more forbidding, than the one they stood on. From their perch, a perpendicular cliff fell sheer for ten meters to a rubble-strewn plateau. From there, the mountainside tumbled down to the sea until it reached a final sheer drop into the ocean. Smooth waves rolled in, and disappeared from his line of sight until a boom heralded an arch of spray rising above the rocks far below. The sky seemed strange, the light more orange than he remembered, no doubt due to the smoke in the atmosphere.
"Were you proposing we abseil down there and fling ourselves into the sea?" he asked.
"No. I think I might just call the lander, get it to come up here. But abseiling down to that ledge might be a good move. It's a more protected spot, so it'll be easier to get inside."
He stopped his jaw from sagging. "You can do that?"
"Abseil? I'm not very good at it—"
"No. Bring the lander here."
Grinning, she shrugged. "Does that surprise you? All I need is a connection to the systems."
"But you've activated cloaking."
"Not completely. I've programmed a poll at random intervals for a directional signal. It would look like an equipment malfunction for anybody monitoring." The grin disappeared. "I'm relying on you for the abseiling bit."
That he could do, although his muscles weren't going to like it. "I'll let you down, first."
He looped one end of the rope around her waist. "Walk yourself down the wall. I'll let the rope out."
Morgan blinked, squared her shoulders, and stepped to the edge, her hair flicking around her head. After a moment's hesitation she turned around, and stepped out, her expression resolute. Good. He didn't have to tell her to lean, to walk slowly. He played the rope out until she could let go, her feet skidding slightly on the rubble.
He pulled the rope back up again, fashioned a grapple from the dead laser-lance, and wedged it tightly in the crack. With one end of the cord tied securely around his waist, he threaded the loose end around the lance. The activity reminded him of home, hunting in the mountains when he was a boy. Playing the rope out through his gloved hands, he walked down the cliff until he stood on the ledge beside her. If you could call an angled, rock-strewn slope barely a long stride wide a ledge. His arms shook with fatigue. What he'd give for a massage.
Morgan had already called the lander. It approached over the ocean, along the channel between the two islands, its matte black surface barely visible.
"It can't land here, surely?" he said.
"No. I'l
l get it to hover as close as I can, and then we'll have to jump."
He wouldn't need to go to a gym for a day or two after this workout. "I'll go first. And you will have this rope around your waist."
She bobbed her head. "Srimana."
The lander rose, steady as a lift despite the breeze swirling around the rocks. The hatch bay opened. He smiled. He should have known better, it was like walking up a flight of stairs. He stepped into the ship, Morgan a heartbeat behind him. He turned when he heard the muffled snigger.
Her silver eyes twinkling, she handed him the rope.
Chapter 35
Morgan told the lander to rise as soon as she'd closed the hatch behind them. The look on Ravindra's face when she gave him the rope was absolutely priceless. She grinned again. "Better go sit down."
Ravindra treated her to another baleful stare, and then he slid into the passenger seat in the ship's tiny cockpit. When she'd sat and connected the harness, he said, "You never told me you could do that." His tone was positively reproachful, as though she'd forgotten to tell him something important.
No, she hadn't. "It's not something we advertise, and it isn’t something I'd often do. Sure, you can pilot a ship remotely. Even an ordinary human can do it, sit in a room with a screen that plays what the sensors can see, and react to that. But the human factor adds…" How to explain? "A level of unpredictability. A remotely controlled ship is programmed to perform. You can't take over manual control. Besides, we were always told to emphasize we're not that much different from unaltered humans. I suppose that's why, whenever I can, I let Davaskar and Jirra run the ship. I don't want them to be entirely reliant on me. It's not healthy." They called it showing off at the Academy, trying to prove you were better than everybody else. Sometimes it had been difficult not to show off, without even trying.
"Do you think the domes are being operated remotely?" he asked.
"Yes. Which pleases me."
Morgan kept her mind on the sensors. Soon she'd have to drop the cloaking to arrange the rendezvous with Vulsaur. No sign of the mother ship, and no domes either. A worm of doubt wriggled in her stomach.
"Looks like they're gone."
Ravindra shot a look at her. "Hmm. Where to?"
She didn't bother to answer. The question was rhetorical, anyway.
Space junk still cluttered the orbital sphere around Ushas. Morgan let the lander pick its own way, while she made the call to Vulsaur. Davaskar acknowledged. They would meet past the planet's last moon in thirty-eight minutes.
"Is there anything from the planet?" Ravindra was looking at the screens where Ushas was girdled in an orange-brown, roiling mass of cloud. Burning. Almost like Artemis, all over again, except they hadn't landed armies of little soldiers.
"Not out here." Morgan wondered how they were coping, how many had died, how long it would take to rebuild. Their fault, hers and Ravindra's. If you wanted to think of it that way. If they hadn't meddled, hadn't gone down to the laboratory.
Ravindra reached across and placed gentle fingers on her chin, turning her head so he could look into her eyes. "Don't. You're blaming yourself—us. There's no point. What's done is done. And there are so many ifs. If Eastly hadn't been a fool, if Cruickshank hadn't sent a missile into something she didn't understand—"
"If I'd never come back." She sighed. "I know. But that's what makes me human, isn't it?"
His lips stretched in a smile. "That. And a few other things."
"You don't feel… responsible?"
He turned back to the screen, gazing for a moment before he answered. "It has crossed my mind. But then, who knows? This might have happened anyway, at some other time. And what difference will it make if I flagellate myself with 'if only'? All we can do is work with what is placed before us. I've had to make some hard choices as an admiral. It's part of the job. Commit a ship when you know it will probably not survive, attack a planet, knowing there will be civilian casualties. 'Collateral damage', as if that sanitizes the facts."
Morgan put a hand on his thigh. What was there to say? He was right.
"And now, your Coalition admirals will have to decide what to do," Ravindra said, placing his hand over hers. "Where has the mother ship gone? What is its purpose? How can we stop them?"
"We?"
"What I said earlier was true. If these aliens have decided to destroy humans, then I cannot imagine they will not take aim at the Manesai."
"If they can find you."
"Yes."
There was nothing more to say. He'd slipped into his analysis mode, where he was thinking through problems, considering alternatives. She'd learned not to disturb him when he was like that. Instead, she made kaff, the rich aroma filling the cabin. She left a cup within his reach, then sat in her chair watching the terminator line inch its way across Ushas's scarred face.
***
Makasa waited for them, eager for news, when they made their way into Vulsaur's common room. "All done?"
"The mother ship is gone," Ravindra bit into a pastry Tullamarran had set on the table for them, chewed and swallowed. "We have coordinates for where we think they arrived here, assuming the theory about the model ship is correct."
The fat man's eyes widened. "How did you manage that?"
Morgan sat down next to Prasad, Davaskar and Jirra and told him, with a few additional comments from Ravindra.
"Have you been in contact with your fleet?" Ravindra asked.
"I have," Makasa said. "A task force is on its way."
"Excellent. Well now, we have an alien encounter to set up. Morgan, do you know where we have to go?"
Of course she did. He knew that. Still, she'd play his game. "Yes, coordinates are locked away. Just give the order."
Makasa's eyes narrowed. "You're going to this place?"
"That's the idea. If we can find out how they get in, we might be able to close the door."
Morgan could almost see the wheels turning under Makasa's tightly-curled, black hair.
"Best if we send the fleet, don't you think?" Makasa said. "If the aliens have left, we could be doing something to help the survivors on this planet."
"Negative," Ravindra said. "This is not your ship, Admiral, it is mine."
Leaning forward, Makasa jabbed a finger at Ravindra. "The people on this planet need help now. We have a Supertech who can help with communications and so on. This is a humanitarian consideration."
"Still trying to keep his Supertech?" Davaskar said in Manesai, his voice bubbling with humor.
"Over my dead body," Ravindra growled in the same language.
Morgan's heart jolted. She stared at one admiral, then the other. She'd almost decided Makasa was right, that they should stay. "What?"
Ravindra's lip lifted in a mocking smile. Glancing at Makasa, he spoke in Standard. "Oh, my love, you didn’t think he'd let you go so easily, did you? Some of that fleet coming here will be aimed squarely at Vulsaur."
Makasa rocked back, and placed his elbows on the table, his fingers intertwined. "You're being absurd."
Ravindra raised an eyebrow. "Am I? Oh, no, Admiral. Rest assured, in your position, I would be doing the same thing. The most valuable asset on this ship is sitting opposite you."
The fat admiral's eyes glittered. "True. Especially now, when I've just lost two others."
Morgan couldn't believe it. He'd as mush as admitted he'd take her by force. Back to the Coalition, whether she liked it or… She leaped out of her seat, lunging at him, fuelled by the anger rising from her gut. "You oily, fat, fucking, bastard. You'd kill them. To keep me."
Ravindra caught her, and forced her back into the seat, his grip on her shoulder painfully tight. "Perhaps not, my dear. Aliens are useful. But I don't think he'd let us share a bed."
Fighting against Ravindra's grip was futile. "Well, let me tell you something, Admiral." Morgan made the last word an insult, throwing it into Makasa's face. "If you ever, ever hurt any of them, you'll find out what a bad Supertech can real
ly do."
Slowly shaking his head from side to side, Makasa tutted. "You're overreacting, Morgan. It was always a failing of yours." He turned to Ravindra. "It seems I'm your prisoner, then."
Ravindra snorted. "I'm not taking you along. You're staying here. In the lander."
For the first time, Morgan detected a hint of fear in Makasa's eyes. "You're not serious," he said.
Savage triumph surged up her spine. Served the bastard right.
"Why not? It's perfectly serviceable. ETA for the Coalition Fleet is… what?" Ravindra flicked his fingers at her.
Allowing the gesture to pass without comment, she checked the messages. "Less than a day." And she hoped the bastard sweated every miserable hour.
Makasa's face looked like a thundercloud. Morgan could quite imagine steam coming out of his ears. "It's a fine little ship, Makasa." She grinned. "You'll be quite comfortable."
Ravindra stood. "Shall we go, Admiral?"
Makasa glowered. "And if I refuse?"
"Then I'll shoot you with this." Ravindra thrust out a hand to Prasad. "Hand gun."
Prasad pulled the weapon from the holster at his hip and dropped it into Ravindra's palm.
"Set to stun, of course. I would prefer not to put my crew to the inconvenience of having to carry you, but if you force the issue, I will have no choice. Bear in mind, though, the after effects of being shot, even at stun, are not at all comfortable. Your choice." He leveled the weapon at Makasa's stomach.
His nostrils flaring, Makasa hoisted himself to his feet. If looks could kill, Ravindra would be in very small pieces. Morgan squeezed her lips together, suppressing her chortle of glee.
Ravindra handed Davaskar the gun. The captain and Jirra escorted the fat man out.
Chuckling, Morgan rose to her feet, and hugged Ravindra. "Sometimes I almost like you, you know that?"
He held her close, brushed her lips with his and released her, a token gesture, but she'd seen the look in his eyes. "They'll have to fight for you."
Yes, and she knew whose side she'd be on.
"What about the other two humans, Srimana?" Prasad asked in Manesai. "If we head for home from this location, we don't want them along."
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