by Amy DuBoff
Fuck! Her pulse spiked.
Ruby, did you hear that?
>>No, Ava, what is it?<<
A voice—voices. They were…
She listened for more, and then ventured a mental call. “Hello?”
There was no reply.
>>The main reason we’re on this mission is so you can try to connect with them.<<
I know.
Ava took a slow breath and cleared her mind.
“We’d like to speak with you. We don’t want to be enemies.”
Silence.
Ava sighed. This isn’t working.
>>You’re not trying very hard.<<
Forgive me for not being very enthusiastic about getting buddy-buddy after what they did to me.
Ava turned away from the pit. “Let’s get out of here,” she told her team.
“Don’t need to ask me twice,” Samantha hurried away.
When they were ten meters away, Ava said, “I made contact with the Dyons. Briefly. They said, ‘You came to us.’ A chorus of them.”
Edwin tensed. “Where are they?”
“I don’t know!” Ava took a shaky breath. “Maybe they’re everywhere. These beings aren’t like anything we’ve dealt with before. They don’t have bodies.”
“Why aren’t you running for the door?” Samantha asked.
“Because we haven’t completed our investigation. Hearing those voices is disconcerting, but we always figured they’d be watching us. And I’m supposed to be trying to communicate with them. Until they take physical action to harm us, we proceed.”
“If and when they act, it’ll already be too late,” Edwin replied.
>>He’s right. We should leave now.<<
We haven’t checked out the last corridor.
>>You’re in danger.<<
We don’t have enough information to draw a definitive conclusion about this place. It has a creepy as fuck vibe, but that’s not enough to order a military strike. We need evidence of a weapon if we’re going to get support to take this thing out for good.
>>You’re willing to die to serve as evidence of danger?<<
If I have to. That’s part of the job.
While it wasn’t a reality Ava was eager to face, she accepted the risks that came with her position. And if the aliens wanted her, she’d gladly sacrifice herself to save the rest of her team.
“The rest of you should head back to the surface,” Ava stated. “I’ll scope out the last corridor, and then meet you up there.”
“Leave you here alone with them?” Edwin shook his head. “No way.”
“You stay, we all stay,” Nick agreed.
Samantha reluctantly nodded her head.
“Fine, but at the first sign of trouble, you run. Don’t worry about me,” Ava instructed.
“With all due respect, ma’am, that’s our call to make,” Nick said as he passed by her.
Ava sighed, but the sentiment warmed her heart. She would’ve said the same thing, in his shoes.
They retraced their steps down the corridor and crossed through the central chamber to the corridor on the left relative to where they’d first entered. The space was immediately a stark contrast to the areas they’d encountered elsewhere.
Notably, there were rooms. The surroundings reminded Ava of a less polished version of the NTech lab on Coraxa, with doors along long corridors and windows looking into labs and medical rooms. The details were missing from this place to make it a direct comparison, but something about it kept jogging her memory.
“I think there might be another way down here,” Nick said.
“What makes you say that?” Ava asked him.
“If these rooms are ever supposed to be occupied, it doesn’t make sense to bring in people via that stairwell. I bet the far end of this hall leads to another exit.”
Edwin shrugged. “One way to find out.”
“If there’s a more direct way out of here, I’m all for it,” Samantha agreed.
They continued down the central corridor, which branched to various side passageways servicing other labs and storage areas. The suits’ sensors mapped the corridors that weren’t obstructed by a sealed door, and their HUDs displayed a labyrinth spanning thousands of square meters.
Samantha groaned as the HUD refreshed with a new branch of hallways. “There’s no way we can go through all of this right now.”
“Hopefully the data you’re downloading will shed some light on the purpose of this place,” Ava replied.
Nick scoffed. “Pretty sure its singular aim is to keep us guessing.”
Ava tightened the grip on her weapon. “Maybe that’s the key. We keep talking about what we’re seeing, but what about going to the underlying why? What were the Dyons after?”
“Well,” Samantha began, “we know they were in league with the Nezarans.”
“I guess that would explain why there are human-sized corridors here, and a breathable atmosphere,” Ava said. “Still, why would beings that can project their consciousness across light years need a bunch of humans?”
Edwin frowned. “You said they feed on negative energy, right?”
“They at least need it to maintain control,” Ava replied.
“Starting a civil war would be a good way to get people in a bad mood,” Nick pointed out.
“They did go to great lengths to pit Alucia and Nezar against each other,” Samantha agreed.
Nick nodded. “Yeah. And NTech had a bunch of armor and weapons stashed in the lab, right, Ava?”
“Yes, but that part doesn’t make sense,” Ava responded. “I get that the Hochste were supposed to be soldiers to fight on Nezar’s behalf, but modified humans don’t use conventional weapons.”
“Not to be Mr. Contrary over here,” Edwin interjected, “but how closely did you look at the rifles you found?”
“I was a little distracted by trying to not get caught,” Ava admitted. “Why?”
“You should probably see this for yourself.” Edwin gestured toward a chest-height window in the wall.
Her stomach knotting, Ava walked over and looked inside.
“Oh, fuck.”
The window overlooked a storeroom containing racks of rifles. Unlike the weapons Ava had used throughout her career, these had no hand grip or trigger.
“No…”
“It looks like these would mount directly to the armor, likely with remote control firing,” Edwin completed for her. “These soldiers of theirs were designed for nasty killing, end of story.”
It’s wrong on so many levels.
Ava tore her gaze away from the storeroom. “Why not just drop a bomb at that point, for such indiscriminant destruction?”
Samantha’s face looked pale. “Because it’s not about who’s getting attacked. It’s about the suffering on both sides.”
Ava’s stomach dropped. “Shit, you’re right.” She shook her head. “I kept looking at it from a human vantage—what they’d have to gain, what they’re working toward. But no. We’re just like food to them.”
“And now they’re getting ready for the harvest,” Edwin murmured.
“How very poetic.” Samantha gripped her handgun a little tighter.
Nick scowled. “No, we’re missing something. Why go through the effort to develop Hochste, to train you?”
“Maximum killing potential equals maximum suffering inflicted?” Ava speculated.
“Not buying it,” Nick said. “This is a race that can construct an artificial planet. They must have a larger play than watching a single system tear itself apart through civil war.”
“Whatever their aim, we’ve learned what we came here to find out,” Ava continued. “It’s clear they mean harm, and this facility is where they mean to bring soldiers to retrofit them into killing machines.”
“Time to go?” Samantha asked eagerly.
Ava nodded. “Yeah, come on.” She turned to head back in the direction they’d come from.
“What about locating the alterna
te exit?” Edwin reminded her.
“Oh, right.” Ava’s face flushed behind her helmet. It wasn’t like her to forget a lead like that.
>>You have a lot on your mind. Don’t be too hard on yourself,<< Ruby soothed.
You’re just happy because we’re finally getting out of here.
>>Like you aren’t?<<
That was true. “Mapping out that exit sounds like a great excuse to avoid going through that center chamber again,” Ava told her team.
Samantha picked up her pace in the direction of the suspected exit. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
“Wow, Sam, you really don’t like it down here.” Ava chuckled.
“How are you even remotely okay with this place?” the private shot back. “You said yourself that there were alien voices taunting you in your head.”
“Ruby’s keeping me in a happy place,” Ava replied.
What you’re doing isn’t impairing my judgment, is it?
>>I’ve tried to keep my interventions to a minimum while alleviating the discomfort from the interference.<<
It didn’t occur to me that I should be more concerned than I feel. Like when you told me before that we should go and I insisted that we stay.
>>Well, we’re leaving now. That’s the important part,<< Ruby replied.
We’ll need to have Doctor Dwyer look over my medical logs when we get back to headquarters to make sure everything is okay, Ava stated.
>>Good plan,<< the AI agreed.
Edwin led the team along the path he’d mapped out toward the likely alternate exit point.
Based on Ava’s own evaluation of the map, his guess looked sound. Most of the corridors seemed to feed into one central pathway, which extended the full length of the map their suit sensors had been able to populate. The far end, however, appeared to terminate in a shielded door.
Either a trap or the exit, Ava said privately to Ruby.
>>Please be an exit!<<
Edwin was the first to reach the barrier. “It’s locked.”
Nick joined him by the control panel next to the door. “We have the encryption protocol saved from before. This shouldn’t take long.”
He synced with the panel and input the necessary commands. The door bolt slid open with a satisfying clang, which was followed by the hiss of the seal releasing.
The two men braced on either side of the door with their weapons pointed ahead. Ava took up position next to Edwin, with Samantha on the other side by Nick.
To their relief, only an empty, four-meter-wide tunnel was waiting for them on the other side.
Samantha lowered her weapon. “You know, after our experiences over the last couple of weeks, it’s really nice to walk through an entire facility and not get shot at.”
Nick groaned. “Damn it, Sam, now you’ve jinxed us.”
“We’re not out of here until we’re out of here,” Edwin reminded them.
“Damn straight.” Ava nodded. “Don’t let your guard down.”
They forged ahead.
The floor sloped upward at a shallow angle suitable for transporting materials on a hover cart. Ava expected it to switch back on itself and exit somewhere close to the control room, but their HUDs showed the trajectory was a straight shot for eight hundred fifty meters ahead.
Thanks to the low gravity, the team was able to lope up the hill and cover the distance quickly. Ava kept watch on the shadows playing on the rough stone walls of the tunnel.
They slowed their pace as they neared the end.
Ava paused to look back down the tunnel while the others continued ahead. The lights had turned off where they’d come from.
She turned back to face her team. “All right, let’s see where this dumps us out. Then we can circle back to the control room to retrieve that data drive.”
Nick nodded. “Sounds goo—”
“Shit!” Edwin shouted.
Ava’s jaw dropped. The tunnel walls that had seemed solid only second before were now a swirling mass of particulates.
“Run!”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ava raced forward through the flurry of sand-like particles. “What the fuck is this?!”
“I’ll make sure our exit is clear. Get Ava!” Nick surged ahead.
Edwin and Samantha tried to get back to her three meters deeper into the tunnel, but the particles bound together to form a lattice barrier in their path.
Edwin struck it with his arm. The latticework flexed to accommodate the blow. “Sneaky bastards waited until the rest of us were at the exit,” he spat.
The particles glommed onto Ava’s powered armor and attempted to stick her boots to the floor. She trudged forward, but each step was more labored than the last as the particles congealed around her. After four steps, she may as well have been walking through hip-deep cement.
“It’s got me!” she shouted.
“I already hate these things.” Samantha readied her multi-handgun on the sonic setting. “Mute your suit,” she instructed Ava.
Ruby completed the action for her.
Samantha fired three blasts. The particles shuddered as the high-powered sound wave passed over them, but the latticework remained intact.
I need to be stronger! I need to break free.
The Hochste within Ava stirred, begging to be let out. Her mind felt clearer and sharper than it had since they landed on the world. So much power was right at her fingertips.
>>Ava! I sense you’re about to shift,<< Ruby warned.
Let me! It may be the boost I need.
>>You can’t!<< the AI pleaded. >>The helmet can’t accommodate the transformation. If you shift, it’ll break the seal, and those particles could get inside you.<<
Ava tried to hold back, but her pulse was quickening. The power called to her. You need to stop it, Ruby!
>>I’m trying!<<
The sweet call of the Etheric energy began to fade.
Ava looked down in horror to see what looked like stone, solidifying around her feet and shins. She couldn’t take another step.
I need another way to break free!
>>Maybe a concussive blast,<< Ruby suggested.
“Kinetics!” Ava shouted over the comm to her team. She managed to get her multi-handgun in position and started firing at her feet.
Edwin joined with Samantha in unloading a clip at her legs.
Impacts registered on Ava’s HUD as the suit absorbed the fire.
It’s loosening. Ava managed to swing one leg forward. Ruby, can you do anything?
>>I’ll override the automatic stop points on the servos. It’ll boost your power.<<
Ava sensed a shift in the controls as she took another step. The next came easier as she gained some momentum. “Find out where we are. Get the pod!” she ordered.
“Already in progress,” Nick replied.
Edwin and Samantha continued firing well-placed shots around Ava’s feet to keep the particles from regaining ahold of her.
“Stay, Ava,” a voice beckoned inside her head. “This is where you belong.”
“Leave me the fuck alone!” She blocked out the aliens’ calls, focusing on each step to the exit.
She made it to Edwin and Samantha’s position.
“Get her outside, Sam,” Edwin said.
He took up the rear while Samantha and Ava cut through the path Nick was helping to keep clear from the outside.
The tunnel exited into a small clearing in the forest. A rock wall towered behind them, but it was no longer solid stone; particles swirled above the surface.
“Shit! Is this entire place going to transform?” Ava checked her multi-handgun and saw that she was on her last clip of kinetic rounds.
“We’re two kilometers away from the landing site. Pod will be here in a minute,” Nick reported.
They’d need more than bullets to make it that long, if the entire cliff face disintegrated.
“Hold them off!” Ava grabbed her plasma rifle off her back and sent a spray of fire
across the sky.
The particles glowed red for an instant as the plasma passed over them, and then they dropped to the ground as blacked specks.
Over the tree canopy, Ava spotted the pod approaching.
“Take off as soon as we’re all on board. We’re getting the fuck out of here!”
“What about the data drive?” Samantha asked.
“Forget it. I have all the evidence I need that this place is hostile.” Ava sprayed her plasma fire into the swarm of particles, hoping to keep a clear enough path for the pod to land.
The swarm gathered around the pod as it descended, coalescing into chains that extended toward the ground.
“Little fuckers think they can tether it!” Edwin shot at one of the chains.
“Get inside.” Ava ran for the back hatch as soon as it dropped open. “There’s no way they’re stronger than the gravitic engine.”
The team piled into the pod while trying to hold off as many of the particles as they could. When everyone was inside, Ava slammed her hand on the button next to the door to close it.
Nick dove to the cockpit and activated the liftoff.
“Shit, some of them are inside!” Samantha flailed her arms in a vain attempt to shake them off.
“Get us off the ground!” Ava urged Nick.
The pod rocketed upward a second later.
Ava looked out the window and saw that the swarm hadn’t been able to keep up with the pod.
“Everyone strap in,” she instructed.
They all took their seats and secured the harness. As soon as everyone was ready, Ava hit the door control to open the back hatch.
Intense wind ripped through the craft’s interior, rippling the belts and anything with a loose end. The little particles didn’t stand a chance.
Ava left the hatch open for thirty seconds, but was forced to close it when the pod reached the upper level of the artificial planet’s atmosphere. There may be some particles in the craft, but not enough to do any damage.
“Message the Raven that we’ll need to go through decontamination procedures,” Ava instructed. “I don’t want to take any risks that these things can replicate.”
“Aye,” Nick acknowledged.
“That was really close.” Samantha let out a long breath and slouched in her seat.
>>That was quick thinking, Ava. Well done.<<