“Captain,” Chris said, “if you like, we can address this during my next check-in with the Security Directorate, which is due in less than an hour. I’m sure they can provide appropriate guidance.”
Pikreet hesitated, as if suddenly unsure. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it. From his frustrated expression, he understood he’d been outmaneuvered.
“Very well,” Pikreet said stiffly, after a moment’s more hesitation. “Have it your way.” He threw Keira a look of loathing before turning back to Chris. “If you will excuse me, I have to see that the rest of my people get settled.” The captain looked at his two men. When he spoke, it came out as a near snarl. “You two, get out. We’ll find another room for headquarters.”
“Yes, sir,” one of the two said. They both left rather hastily.
“Don’t forget the stairs, Captain,” Chris said, and then hardened his tone ever so slightly. “I want the stairwell secured and the route back to the transport patrolled—regularly.”
“You do, huh?” Pikreet’s jaw flexed again.
“I do and I will also be sure to mention your diligence in looking after our security. I am sure my superiors will be comforted by it.”
Pikreet gave a grudging sort of snort and then stalked out of the room. His boots could be heard as he moved down the outer corridor.
“What was all that about?” Lee asked Keira after the captain was gone. “Most of the stuff in this room is broken anyway. There’s not much they could do to make things worse. I know that and you know it.”
“They don’t know that,” Keira said. “I don’t like Pikreet or his people, especially after what we saw them do out in the city.”
Lee stared at her for a long moment, then gave a shrug of his shoulders. “Right. Well then, I guess we have our privacy and this room to ourselves.” He glanced back into the depths of the control room. “I think I will see if this place is a self-contained unit. If it is, perhaps there’s a way to restore the life support.” Lee left them, quickly disappearing amongst the many equipment racks.
Much of Keira’s enthusiasm had evaporated after the encounter with Pikreet. When she turned her attention to Chris, she was surprised to discover he was speaking to someone on the comm. She could see his mouth moving through his faceplate but not hear what was being said. He seemed rather animated and did not look terribly happy either. Their eyes met and he held up a finger, indicating he’d be just a moment. She waited until he was finished with his call, which turned out to be rather brief.
“That was a smart move and quick thinking,” Chris said to her as he reopened the private channel between them. “It keeps the militia out of our hair, at least for a time.”
“But it also keeps us in,” Keira said. “We’re trapped in here.”
“Not as securely as you and they might think,” Chris said and glanced around. “There’s always a way out of a room like this one. Trust me on that.”
She turned to the empty doorway and considered it for several moments. “Do you think he will patrol the stairs?”
“Does it matter?” Chris asked.
“I would assume it does,” Keira said. “You made a fuss about it.”
“That I did,” Chris said. “I doubt any of the agitators from topside will come down here. It’s as the captain said. The environment is too hostile.”
“Then why press him on it?” Keira asked. “Why bother pushing him?”
“It keeps a number of his people off this level and tied up. It also puts him off balance.” Chris eyed her intensely. “Never fight an enemy on even ground. Always make them guess what your next move will be.”
Keira thought about that for a moment, wondering what else Chris had planned, and decided to change the subject. “Who were you talking to?”
“Sara Campbell. I was alerting her that we might need help to reach the safe house, especially with the problems here at Hakagi. Things topside are getting worse.”
“How bad is it?” Keira asked.
“Bad,” Chris said. “The UPG is losing control of the area. Regaining it is not going to be as easy as the captain makes it seem. When we do go and make our break, if the situation hasn’t stabilized, it could complicate things. Then again, with all the chaos—who knows, slipping away might be easier. There’s just no way to tell at this point.”
“Sara Campbell.” Keira had never heard the name before. “Who is she?”
“Sara runs the operation at the safe house,” Chris said without hesitation. “She was first officer, a lieutenant commander, on the ship we arrived on.”
“The Seringapatam?” Keira asked.
“Yes. The captain was killed in the fighting before the crash. She was one of the survivors, and let me tell you, Sara is one of the bravest people I’ve ever met.”
“The safe house—” The pieces of the puzzle were beginning to fall into place.
“What about it?” Chris asked.
“The people who arrived on the ship,” Keira said. “The people who survived. They’re the ones who set up the safe house.”
“As I told you earlier, you can trust them. They are some of the best the empire has to offer.”
Understanding hit home. “It’s all been for the safe house. Everything we’ve found out in the field, and anything you managed to scrounge—it all went there. You never traded it away on the black market. I’m right, aren’t I?”
“As I said, you are a smart girl.” Chris shot her a wink. “Too smart, actually.”
Seeming rather excited, Lee returned in a near rush, forestalling any further conversation. Keira had a lot of questions for Chris. But, for the moment, she decided they could wait.
“I’m fairly certain this control room has a self-contained air filtration system. The vents were left in the open position, which is why the haze made it in.” Lee waved a hand behind him. “Heck, if I’m reading things right, the entire level seems to be completely self-contained and separate from the rest of the tower. Keira, I think you’re right. This building had to have been constructed before Asherho was terraformed, back when the climate was hostile.” He rubbed his hands together. “We might be able to make the life support functional again. If I’m right, we can get out of these blasted suits and have plenty of room. It’d mean no tents.”
Keira gazed around the room, feeling the itch to explore return. Lee’s enthusiasm was catching. Though, to be honest, she wanted to get out of the suit and clean up even more. The survival tents were cramped. It would be better if they didn’t have to use them.
“That sounds like a plan,” Chris said and closed the door to the corridor outside. “I like it.”
“Oh, I found something else too. You both have to see this.” Lee was almost breathless with excitement. “Come on.”
He led them past several instrument racks and to the center of the room. There was a large hatch on the floor, three meters wide. It was made of what looked like a see-through sort of plexi-plastic or maybe even a steel composite that revealed an unlit shaft, which ran down into darkness. Lee had wiped away the layer of dust that had covered it.
“Incredible, isn’t it?” Lee said.
“Well,” Keira said, “at least we won’t have to find the service access shaft, if we need it. It’s right here.”
Could they use the shaft to escape? Chris seemed to be studying it intently.
“How far down do you think it goes?” Lee asked.
“Roughly two kilometers,” Chris said without hesitation.
Keira wanted to know how he knew that. As if he had read her mind, he looked over at her. “My optical sensors tell me there’s liquid at the bottom. It could be the shaft is filling up with groundwater.”
“Or it could be one of the tower’s reservoirs,” Lee suggested.
After a moment, Keira spoke. “With any luck, we won’t have to go down there.” She didn’t see why Lee had gotten so excited over finding the service shaft, but he had.
“When were things ever easy
?” Lee asked and then pointed down into the shaft. “I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise?”
“Look about five meters down. See those alcoves on either side of the shaft?”
The dim light from the control room did not travel that far. She had missed the alcoves, for they were not large and were barely visible. Something was lodged in each. They were small and hard to make out.
“I think those are service mechs,” Lee said as he activated the floodlights on his suit, illuminating one.
He was right. It was clearly some sort of mech, with spindly arms, legs, and even a squat head. The mech had a rudimentary face too, complete with what looked like a mouth, two eyes, and a nose.
“That’s incredible,” Keira said, feeling her excitement return in a rush.
“Hakagi predates much of the AI infrastructure on Asherho” Lee said. “If we can find the control unit”—he glanced at the nearest racks—“we might be able to activate them. That is, if we can manage to power the mechs up. They might not work without a serious overhaul.”
Keira liked the thought of that. “If the problem is down there, they might even be able to help with the repair.”
“Better them than me. I really don’t want to go down there,” Lee said, his excitement fading a little.
“We may need to go down there to activate them,” Keira said.
“I don’t recall us bringing any climbing equipment,” Chris said.
Keira was silent for a long moment as she considered the problem. The walls of the shaft were smooth, and without any handholds. Whoever had designed the shaft had not intended people to go down there, at least not without specialized equipment. Likely the mechs were meant for that purpose.
“Well,” Keira said, “it’s not an immediate problem. I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We still have to find and troubleshoot the problem. As much as I hate to admit it, the mechs can wait until we know more.”
“And if it becomes a problem?” Chris asked.
“Then,” Keira said, “we use the mules.”
“The mules?” Lee seemed surprised by that suggestion.
“Yeah,” Keira said. “Their magnetic clamps would allow us to move up and down the shaft with ease. We’d only need to secure ourselves to them.”
“I don’t like that idea,” Lee said.
“Yeah, well, I don’t like heights either.” Keira patted him on the shoulder. “But if the job requires it …”
He gave a grunt in response.
“Nice find,” she said.
“Thanks,” he replied. “I’ll get to work on seeing if I can restore the atmosphere in here. If I need your help, I will call you.”
Keira gave a nod, spared one more look at the mechs, then moved away and started a slow circuit around the room, taking in everything she saw, mentally cataloging things to explore when there was time.
The designers had built Hakagi to last. Had they not, much of the critical equipment and infrastructure of the tower would have failed long ago. Even so, it was beginning to fail regardless, and unless things changed, the people who called this tower home were living on borrowed time. There weren’t even enough trained people left to perform regular maintenance that could prevent more serious issues from developing. That was the real problem, the true tragedy on Asherho. There just were not enough trained people.
Perhaps, Keira thought, that was where the empire had gone wrong. People had become content, complacent even. They had come to rely so completely on the technology that made them comfortable that when it had all failed, there had been few who could step up and fix things, and even fewer who understood how it all worked.
Keira came to a stop at one of the workstations along the wall and reached out a hand to an eye-level panel that was active. From what she could see, the display panel was set to monitor air flow throughout the tower’s upper levels. Tapping it with a gloved finger, she paged through several screens, studying the information as it popped up. There was a lot of data, a mountain’s worth. It told her much about the poor state of things at Hakagi.
She continued to study it, paging through trouble alerts, drilling down on specific informational tags on related equipment throughout the tower that was nonfunctioning or on its last legs, such as fans, flow regulators, control valves, junction units … the list went on and on. There was so much in a critical state, she found it unsettling in the extreme. It was more than one team could accomplish in a lifetime, and the air systems were not even why they had come.
“I wish there was something that could be done,” Keira said to herself as she rested her hand to the side of the screen she was reading. The moment her gloved hand made contact, what seemed like a shock ran up her arm. It was like touching a live connection, only, oddly, the sensation wasn’t painful. She attempted to pull her hand back but couldn’t. Her muscles had locked up and did not work. She couldn’t move.
The room around her wavered before her eyes, and with it, the oppressive feeling returned with a vengeance. She was somehow at the base of Hakagi, the very foundation of the tower buried deep underground. There was something there, an intelligence and a void of pure darkness, sinister, hidden from the light, shrouded for an age, a shadow of what had once been. Keira could sense the entirety of the structure towering overhead. It was a great weight pressing down upon her soul. The thousands upon thousands of people crammed inside only added to the crushing pressure. She could see them in their apartments, or moving about the halls, eating in cafeterias, living out lives without purpose or hope. The suffering was too much. It came on as a rush and threatened to overwhelm her mind, shatter her sanity. She tried to cry out for help, but no sound came from her throat. Then, abruptly, as rapidly as it had started, the sensation ceased and left her, flowing back the way it had come, returning, it seemed, to Hakagi itself.
Stunned, Keira took an unsteady step back and gasped, sucking in a deep breath. Her heart was hammering in her chest and she could hear her pulse in her ears. For a moment, the control room around her spun. Taking several deep breaths, Keira closed her eyes tight, willing it all to stop, to calm herself and her racing heart.
When she opened her eyes, the spinning had stopped, and she felt almost normal. The memory of what had happened was fading fast too. Her hand that had touched the panel tingled slightly. She looked down at it, examining her palm. There was nothing wrong with the glove, no burn or scorch marks. It appeared normal.
How strange. The hazard suit was insulated against shocks. Only a powerful amount of energy would have gotten through, and that would have left some sort of mark. Keira knew, because it had happened to her the year before. She had inadvertently touched an exposed power conduit that was live. The insulation had saved her life, but it had charred the suit. Still, as she studied the glove, she saw no scorch marks.
What had just happened?
Once again, she checked the air in her suit. The readout showed green and the mix normal. There were no contaminants to be concerned about. Was it malfunctioning? She ran a quick diagnostic. It came back clean. Nothing was wrong with the suit.
Had she imagined it? Surely not.
“Are you okay?”
Keira turned to find Chris standing just behind her. She’d not heard him come up, which was odd because when he moved in his armor you could not miss it. How long had he been there?
“You’ve been over here for some time,” Chris said, “staring at the display. I thought I might see what you think is so interesting.”
“I have?” A wash of weariness stole over her. Keira felt drained, and exhausted, more so than she had just a few minutes ago.
There was a look of concern on his face. “Yes.”
“I just need some sleep, is all, a nap at least,” she said, attempting to not only reassure him, but herself as well. It did not help. Instead, she felt a mounting sense of dread or, more correctly, wrongness. Yes, that was it. Something was wrong, beyond Pikreet and his intentions for them.
“Why don’t you take a seat and rest for a few minutes?” Chris said. “I can begin unpacking the mules. Lee is already working on the air handling system. He said he’d be at it for a while. Take a nap. You need it.”
“I think I will do that.” Keira looked around for a place to sit down. Any place was as good as another. She was already standing near a wall and the station where she’d been shocked. She simply sat down where she was and placed her back against the wall. It felt good to sit.
Chris eyed her for a moment, a strange look to his gaze. He was clearly concerned. Then, he stepped off toward the mules. She could feel the heavy thuds of his armored steps through the floor as he left her.
Keira leaned her head back against the wall. She didn’t know what had just happened, but the feeling of dread, that something terrible was on the horizon, refused to go away. She considered telling Chris, but then disregarded that idea. There was a strange reluctance that warned her not to. Besides, he would never believe her and likely chalk it up to nerves, along with exhaustion.
Deciding to take his advice to heart, Keira closed her eyes and gave into sleep, dropping off almost immediately into a deep oblivion.
Chapter Thirteen
Kneeling, Keira leaned forward and peered down into the service shaft. It was the morning after they had arrived. Perspiration ran down her face. The control room was hot and she was uncomfortable. The service mech worked its way down to the access panel she had ordered it to go to, number 17A-5. This would be the fifth power junction she had checked to confirm power was flowing properly to the environmental controls. The mech’s controller rested by her side.
She had given the machine its orders and now it was diligently carrying them out. As far as she could tell, the mech had more functional, or really operating, capacity than the mules. Every move did not have to be completely closely monitored, something for which she was exceedingly grateful. It made her job easier.
Keira had never encountered one like it, but the mech’s computing capacity, though advanced, was nowhere close to the cognitive functioning of a limited artificial intelligence. It had simply been programmed to perform a series of tasks and operate somewhat autonomously with limited human oversight in its environment, which was the access shaft.
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