The Trilisk Supersedure (Parker Interstellar Travels #3)

by Michael McCloskey

  “We can’t bargain with you on this, Shiny,” Telisa said.

  “Seven percent more resource allocation from—”

  “We can’t bargain with human lives,” Arakaki said.

  Perhaps an individual’s worth to society had to be fully measured before the Terrans would allow exchange of the individual’s life for resources. Kirizzo changed tack.

  “Offering 1.3 times Terran average life valuation on Earth in any currency or resource for license, permission, agreement to kill intervening Terrans without breaking existing alliance,” he offered.

  “We refuse!” Arakaki said.

  “Wait a minute,” Magnus said. He sent further private communications among the other Terrans. Kirizzo did not intercept the signals, though he might well have done so if things were less hectic. The Terrans were obviously hung up on a point perhaps practical but more likely terminology oriented. Perhaps the one called Magnus could see a way through this particular intercultural maze. Kirizzo wasn’t sure what the conflict was, but he hoped Magnus could mesh their negotiation styles quickly.

  “Don’t kill them unless any of us are in real danger,” Cilreth suggested.

  “Goal in danger, wish to prevent escape of valuable target,” Kirizzo said.

  “Where is the target going to go? You’re tracking it, right? We don’t need to kill these people,” Telisa said.

  “Target may descend into Trilisk tunnels to escape detection. May escape in UED space vessel.”

  “He wouldn’t get past the Thumper, though?

  “Unlikely, improbable, doubtful.”

  Kirizzo entered a planning phase. What should he do if the Terrans remained obstructionistic to the capture of the Trilisk in a Terran shell? Proceed without their assistance. Take the Trilisk back to the base in his own ship. The Clacker would be left with the valuable Trilisk artifacts, but he would have a Trilisk. The trade would be in his favor. Should he relocate the base in that case to avoid further Terran entanglement? It would depend on what he could learn from the Trilisk. Would it be dangerous to allow the Trilisk close to the AI? It was a troubling thought he hadn’t considered. A Trilisk might well be able to undo his handiwork with the prayer blocker and simply run rampant with it. Then Kirizzo would be the captured specimen. A great deal of time would be required to complete the phase. He would be better served by switching back to action now.

  The intervening Terrans had all expired. Kirizzo’s countermeasures had been more effective than he had expected. He decided to soften the blow to his allies upon reporting the result.

  “The Terrans ahead have scattered,” he said. “Some casualties among them. Target now within confines of UED encampment.”

  “Do they have any defenses?” Magnus asked. Kirizzo prepared an analysis to reply, but Arakaki responded.

  “Mostly the Guardians were the defense. I understand many of them have been destroyed?”

  “Affirmative, correct, verified.”

  “They may have some grenades set. I could probably make it in myself, and they wouldn’t target me.”

  “What would you do by yourself?”

  “Kill the damn thing, of course,” Arakaki said. “Your alien friend isn’t hesitating to kill any of them. Let me in there and take a crack at it. Maybe I can save the rest. If you all go in, then there will be more deaths.”

  “No personnel left in camp,” Kirizzo told them. “Survivors gathering at grounded assault ship.”

  “Then we all go in,” Magnus said. “Arakaki’s on point. She’ll let us know if any friendly grenades are armed within range.”

  “Unless Holtzclaw—the Trilisk, that is—reset some grenades and locked me out. I encountered him, or it, whatever, just after he shot one of our own. He knows I’m alive.”

  “Did he have time?” asked Telisa.

  “Who knows what that thing is capable of,” Cilreth said.

  “Sending more drones,” Kirizzo said. He routed more nearby machines toward the Terrans. “Within their capability to intercept Terran grenades. Two per host provides over 80 percent success rate outside the blast radius. Sending one ahead to seek active grenades.”

  “Handy,” Arakaki said. Her voice feigned a trivial assessment belied by her physiological readings. The Terran Arakaki was, in fact, in a high state of stress. He intensified his study. Could this Terran have been altered by the Trilisk? He found no evidence to support the idea. A simpler explanation was simply that her life was under threat. Though as a trained soldier, she should be calm. He compared her readings to those of Magnus. They were comparable, so he dropped the line of investigation.

  The anomalous readings changed subtly. They were centered on a Terran starship set slightly into a hillside.

  “Target most likely entered vessel on far side of encampment.”

  The ship’s power systems spiked. The primitive Terran gravity spinner was being powered up. Meanwhile, his allies had reached the edge of the obfuscation device that covered the UED encampment.

  “Forget it. Get back!” Arakaki transmitted. “He’s starting up the engines.”

  Kirizzo considered the countermeasures at his disposal. Though the walker commanded sufficient firepower to bring down the Terran assault ship with precise strikes, destroying the Terran vessel seemed inadvisable. He could well kill the Terran body Holtzclaw inside, even though it enjoyed superhuman status.

  Instead, Kirizzo contacted his starship in orbit and instructed it to prepare to intercept the Terran assault ship.

  His own Terran allies ran to safety. There was a brief discussion about taking shelter in the cavern entrances just inside the camp, but the threat of traps instead sent the Terrans moving alongside the perimeter and toward a large fissure. Should he inform the Terrans that the more massive Chigran Callnir Four predators preferred to lair in the largest fissures? No. The group was well armed and could likely survive any such encounter.

  The Terran ship lifted from the surface. It did not attempt to use its ground attack munitions or its propellant drive to attack as his allies feared. Instead it proceeded optimally toward orbit.

  “Shifting attention away from the surface. Obtain items of interest.”

  “Will do, Shiny, good luck,” Telisa responded.

  The anomalous readings continued, centered on the Terran ship. Either the Trilisk truly was aboard or it had sophisticated means of tricking Kirizzo. The Gorgalan wondered if the Trilisk was aware a non-Terran hunted it. Perhaps it thought it only needed to escape any Terran forces in orbit.

  The Thumper released independent probes and weapons to form a screen that would follow and intercept the fleeing ship. But the Terran vessel was slow and clumsy. It was easily intercepted by the Thumper itself, despite the huge mass difference.

  Something changed. The odd readings Kirizzo used to track the alien disappeared. He switched away from its Terran body signature. Nothing. He switched back to the original parameters he had used to scan the planet. Still nothing. More scans on the surface at the lift off site did not reveal the Trilisk, either.

  The Thumper moved in and hacked the Terran vessel’s control systems to shut down its gravity spinner. The ship was in his grasp. Several of his remote probes and pieces of ordnance attached themselves to its surface.

  “I have captured the UED vessel,” he reported to the Terrans. “However, no Trilisk signature detected aboard vessel. Anomalies have disappeared, ceased, vanished.”

  “What? He’s still down here somewhere?”

  “Unknown, uncertain, unascertained.”

  The first possibility was that the retreat to the Terran vessel had been a ruse. The second possibility was that the Trilisk was still in the ship but could not be detected. A third possibility was that the Trilisk had rendezvoused with an undetectable ship, boarded it, and left.

  Kirizzo tried to think of other explanations. After a moment, another theory surfaced: Trilisks might be so advanced, they might not need starships to travel between the stars. But if so, why
the ruse? Perhaps the method required distance from the planet to achieve. There was no way of knowing. Better to concentrate on conventional explanations first? But the target was thought to be a Trilisk. Conventional could hardly describe Trilisks.

  “Advise continue search on surface and in orbit,” he transmitted to the Terrans. “However, chances of recovering target rapidly diminishing.”

  The Terrans commandeered two remaining sensor modules from the UED force and started searching for the Trilisk in the body of Holtzclaw. Their search signature lacked sophistication; however, if the Trilisk was still in Holtzclaw, they might succeed.

  Kirizzo thought about the sequence of events. Had the moment of transition to the Terran vessel been a ruse? Perhaps it had entered a Trilisk tunnel beneath at that time. But the nearest tunnel went under the west side of the UED camp, where they had been digging for Trilisk technology. He spotted a likely error: the assumption that the Trilisk had none of its own devices to use. Its industrial seed may have been exhausted, broken, or even destroyed in an enemy attack (the methane breathers?), but that did not mean the Trilisk did not have any of its other tools left to use. Perhaps it had been rationing what it had left for dire circumstances.

  Kirizzo conducted a search of his own vessel. What if the Trilisk had gotten on board? Kirizzo realized the creature would be very dangerous if it still had functioning devices to use. The Trilisks had been capable of almost anything. How could Kirizzo hope to capture it unless it was deprived of its own technology?

  “Trilisk no longer detectable,” Kirizzo admitted. “Further analysis required to determine its location.”

  He did not say he doubted he would ever be able to find it.

  “Then what are we going to do?” asked Telisa.

  “Recommend return to base for study of Trilisk materials,” Kirizzo said. “Many large artifacts available to examine.”

  “Yes, let’s head back. And pray us up some scout replacements,” Magnus said.

  “And an army of combat robots this time,” Cilreth interjected. “And a bunch of high-tech traps.”

  The new Terran looked perplexed. “What about the hunt?”

  “If Shiny doesn’t know where it is, then we don’t either,” Telisa said. “But we can keep looking, and the next best thing is to figure out its toys.”

  “What kind of a base is this?” Arakaki asked.

  Magnus smiled and told her, “You’re going to love it.”

  But the Terran called Telisa did not look at all happy about it.

  Chapter 27

  “I’m going to check out the Clacker’s new course, see what I can learn from the ship,” Cilreth said happily. The Terran part of the team had returned to Clacker while Shiny ascended to orbit to reunite with his ship Telisa had named Thumper.

  “Aren’t you annoyed that the Trilisk got away?” Telisa asked. She felt a bit more comfortable since Arakaki had retired to a lavish room they gave her half an hour ago. She trusted Magnus’s assessment, but it would take time for her to build up her own trust of a stranger.

  “Nothing wrong with me my new superhuman body isn’t going to fix right up!” Cilreth said brightly.

  “Are we really going to do that? I mean…”

  “Why not? We live on the frontier; there’s no enforcement of any kind out here. And even by UNSF rules, we have the right to alter our own physiology. Look, a couple more decades and you’re going to be singing my song, lady,” Cilreth said with a bit of an edge.

  “Something tells me if the UNSF knew that right was about to include immortal superhuman bodies, they would restrict it,” Telisa said. Even as she said it, she felt the old anger again: how dare they dictate to everyone how to live. She had just convinced herself wrong with her own argument.

  “All the more reason to resist them, to fight their rules,” Cilreth said.

  I guess I agree; it’s my choice. But the question is, what if everyone got that choice? What would the repercussions be?

  “I say go for it,” Magnus chimed in. “You’ll have forever to think over the ethical consequences of your act.” He smiled.

  “Guys, we have a major problem! Shiny’s ship just blew up!” Cilreth reported.

  “What!?” Telisa sent back.

  “His ship exploded.”

  The Trilisk must have done something.

  She traded astonished looks with Magnus. Before they could think through how bad the news was, Cilreth delivered an update.

  “Shiny’s not dead! He’s coming to the Clacker on a small ship. I have no idea what’s up. I’m sending you a pointer to the bay he’s headed for. Maybe go meet him in person?”

  “Okay,” Telisa said. “We’ll meet him and hope he’s not a Trilisk.”

  “Weapons!” Magnus snapped. Telisa checked hers. His rifle was out.

  Telisa and Magnus ran through the Terranized sections of the Clacker. The ship was so large it still had areas for Vovokans, with natural-looking interiors and a sandy floor.

  They arrived at a massive airlock with a large circular iris door. The arriving ship wasn’t mated with the Clacker yet, but Telisa saw she could connect to Shiny.

  “What’s going on, Shiny?” Telisa transmitted.

  “Joining Clacker,” the buzzing voice replied. “Bringing UED personnel. Did not apprise them of nature of vessel or host.”

  “What happened to the Thumper, I mean?”

  “Destroyed ship to increase chances Trilisk neutralized.”

  Arakaki walked up behind Telisa and Magnus. When she saw their weapons, she drew her laser.

  “What are you doing here?” Magnus said out loud.

  “Cilreth told me the other UED survivors from the ship may have blown up.”

  “They should be here in a few minutes,” Magnus said. “As far as I know they’re all coming. Maybe you can help get them settled in. I don’t think they’ve met Shiny, but I get the feeling you are about to.”

  Arakaki nodded.

  “Shiny says he destroyed his ship hoping to destroy the Trilisk!” Telisa said. “I don’t believe it. Does that make sense to you?”

  “Not really,” Magnus said.

  “That’s a pretty extreme step,” Arakaki said. “It may have worked, though. Suppose the Trilisk has the equivalent of a stealth suit. It may have been anywhere. And it’s sharp. Advanced. It could accomplish anything given time.”

  “So he pulls a fast escape and blows his own ship up to kill it. All on a hunch?” Telisa said.

  “To Shiny, that ship is expendable,” Magnus thought out loud. “I guess I could see him sacrificing it if he thought there was a 10 percent chance he’d catch the Trilisk by surprise.”

  “I thought we were going to capture it,” Arakaki said. “Not that I’m complaining. I hope the damn thing blew up.”

  No one fielded any more theories before the ship connected to Clacker. The Vovokan airlocks were huge and circular. The iris before them opened soon after the arrival of the Thumper’s escape vessel.

  Shiny emerged, pattering in on dozens of legs. Arakaki visibly recoiled.

  “Damn. That thing makes Cthulhu look cuddly!” Arakaki exclaimed. Her laser pistol hand wavered, but she didn’t point it at Shiny. “Uh, no offense,” she added.

  “It’s Shiny, of course,” Telisa said. “You get used to it.”

  “Right.” Arakaki didn’t sound any happier.

  “You could have checked with us. That was…unexpected,” Telisa said to Shiny.

  “Unexpected, surprise, unpredictable action intended as strategy to catch Trilisk unprepared,” Shiny said. “Intend, attempt, hope the extreme maneuver succeeded.”

  “Succeeded in killing what we hunted?” Arakaki said.

  “Trilisk disappearance requires, needs, depends upon advanced means. Trilisk with advanced means more dangerous, deadly, capable.”

  Arakaki nodded. “It may have been toying with us all along.”

  “For what reason? Sadistic pleasure?” asked Telisa.


  Arakaki shrugged. “It’s an alien. I have no idea. But it liked to hunt us.”

  Let’s hope it isn’t one of us, Telisa said to Magnus on a private channel.

  Shiny will detect it if that’s happened.

  What if he already has but hasn’t said anything? Keeping his hand secret.

  You can invent horrible scenarios like that all day long if you want. I haven’t slept in forever.

  Right.

  ***

  Telisa and Magnus retired to the opulent lodgings of the Clacker while Arakaki ushered in a small group of UED survivors. After a long sleep and an hour of fooling around to make up for lack of intimate opportunities on the job, they lay together in a huge sleep web.

  “What are we going to do about the UED guys?” Telisa asked.

  “We can drop them off on the frontier, at a small outpost or something.”

  “We should recruit from among them.”

  “Probably,” Magnus said.

  “I’m surprised you don’t sound enthusiastic. The others must not be as cute as Arakaki.”

  “The others are used to being in a unit. One that went through a lot. Their loyalty to each other will be stronger than any loyalty they could feel to Parker Interstellar Travels. If we hire them, they’ll have to be on their own ship or part of some other team.”

  I wonder if he feels they must hate him for being ex UNSF.

  “You’re right,” she said. “They’ll stay tight with each other, and if we found more valuable stuff they would always be tempted to strike off on their own. They might even leave us stranded on a planet somewhere. But what about Arakaki?”

  “She’s had enough of it. Ready to move on.”

  He sure knows a lot about her already.

  “What if the Trilisk is in one of them?” Telisa asked. Or one of us. She knew he had dismissed the idea earlier, but it kept creeping back up on her.

  “Shiny doesn’t think so.”

  “He doesn’t know. He admits not knowing what happened to the Trilisk. Destroying his own ship was a move of desperation, I think. He could be the Trilisk.”