by B. V. Larson
He stared into my eyes. “No,” he said.
“What about Turov?”
“Galina Turov was convicted of treason by an emergency tribunal. Whether she had cooperated or not, she was to be permed.”
That part surprised me. I hadn’t been sure about her fate. Not until that very moment. I nodded.
“What about Claver?”
“Are you going to frigging jump or what?” he demanded suddenly.
“I’m the only chance you have. Answer a few more questions.”
He muttered something then replied in an even voice. “All right. What do you want to know about Claver?”
“Did you revive him? Did you get anything out of him?”
“How could we do that? You gave us a pile of Claver-meat, sure. But you blasted his tapper. Even if we had a back-up of his brain, it would be out of date. Useless in light of recent events. In short, we didn’t bother to bring him back.”
“Oh… right,” I said. “Okay, I’m ready to jump now.”
Reaching up and placing my hand on the suit’s dial, I held the pistol up with the barrel pointing at the ceiling.
Graves stepped back in alarm. That made me smile.
“I want dinner and a six pack when I get home!” I told them all, brandishing the pistol toward them.
No one replied.
Sealing my faceplate in case I ended up in space somehow, I put my hand on the dial again.
Then, while they all stared, I twisted the metal control disk firmly to the second setting. The one Turov had said would take me to something she’d called the point of origin...
Whatever the hell that meant.
-17-
Everything changed. It was like someone had switched out the lights and dropped me into a trapdoor in the floor.
I knew I was moving—but I didn’t know how or in which direction. When I’d jumped across a few meters of space the day before and ended up playing Siamese twins with some poor hog, the feeling had been one of instantaneous translocation.
One second I’d been standing on that scorched floor, and the next, I’d been intermingling my molecules with those of my victim.
This time, however, there was a tiny lag in the process. It wasn’t much—I’d say less than two seconds. Just enough time to dream a little and wonder about what was happening to me.
The experience was kind of like waking up again after a death, but it went by much faster. You felt like you’d been nonexistent for a time, then suddenly it was over and you felt disoriented but relatively normal.
When the jump ended there was an odd, momentary sense that my body was coming back together. Like an explosion in reverse, or like smoke being sucked back up into the same tiny bottle it had once been trapped within.
Looking around in a daze, I found myself in a dimly lit, unknown place. My body was suspended above the floor somehow, and what little light there was seemed wavering and diffused. My mass soon settled, falling gently down onto my feet.
Turning this way and that, I caught on quickly enough. I was underwater. This made good sense as the cephalopods were aquatic creatures. Water was a natural environment for them.
Still, I hadn’t expected this kind of landing site. My suit had been sealed to prevent decompression, not compression.
The water pressure sank in against my body. I felt briefly like I was being crushed. The feeling soon subsided as my suit began to pump in more air to counteract the effect. My ears popped painfully.
Where was I? Reaching out my hand in the murk I touched a polymer globe that apparently surrounded me. It was a smooth, artificial wall. My eyes were still adjusting to the gloom beyond.
Was I trapped inside some kind of glass bubble? Feeling a little panicked, I reached out in every direction. I almost dropped my pistol when I found a curving barrier all around me—there was no way out.
Then I thought of looking upward. There above me was the top of the fishbowl. It took kicking off the bottom and three hard strokes against the weight of my gear to grasp the slimy edge of my cell. I struggled to get my arm over the lip of the enclosure I’d found myself in.
My head broke the surface and I found a small region of air above the water. Panting with exertion, I clung to the rim of the bowl. I looked around slowly, trying to take it all in. My tapper had been repaired by the tech team before they suited me up for death, so I used it and my body-cams to record everything I saw. Hopefully the resolution in the vids would capture some better details than I could with my naked eyes. Maybe someone would find it useful, or at least interesting, in the future.
Where the hell was I? My mind really wanted to know. I can report that even for me, a combat veteran of a dozen major conflicts, teleporting blind into a dark water-filled fish tank was disturbing. I didn’t even know what planet I was on—or if this was a planet at all.
I was sure that my immediate environment was artificial, and there hadn’t been any squids waiting around for me to show up. Other than that, I didn’t know shit.
Up above the rim of the globe I’d arrived in, the air pocket was full of steamy gas not water. By climbing up on top of the lip of the globe I was able to reach up and grab onto a solid strut. There were exposed wires on the ceiling which was quite low. The wires might carry high voltages, and they were only about a meter above my head. I made a special effort not to touch them.
It occurred to me that an advanced aquatic species might find dry air useful, if only as an insulator. Maybe this region was like a crawlspace to them. An area that wasn’t trafficked except by technical squids who worked on wiring and the like.
I found grated plank-ways up there, out of the water, like a network of catwalks over a giant aquarium. Sloshing and grunting, I hauled myself up onto the walkway as water rained off my suit back into the massive tank.
After escaping the fish tank, my first instinct was to hide before I was discovered. I crawled toward a dark alcove nearby. When I managed to tuck myself into a storage compartment of loose junk, I breathed hard from exertion and tried to think.
Okay, I thought to myself, I’ve done enough here. I could justify this as a mission accomplished.
Placing my hand on my dial, I paused. I could twist it, but that didn’t mean it would work. For one thing, I wasn’t hooked to any major power source this time. Even more importantly, I had no idea where the other settings on that dial might take me.
My hand fell away. I figured I might as well look around a while longer before I permed myself. After all, my eyes were just getting used to the low light. Why not take some more vids from up here?
Slinking out of my hiding spot, I froze. There was something moving around under me, in the water. I stared. A shadow swept gracefully by.
It was so big and so smooth while swimming. It had to be a squid.
Was I on their home planet? It could be. The environment seemed humid and wet with high pressure in the extreme, like an underwater cavern, but with metal walls. There was gravity and an atmosphere. My tapper had measured out a rich nitrogen-oxygen mixture of gases. Plenty of methane, too. The water was dank and well lived-in.
The squid seemed to be swimming around the globe in circles. I stayed motionless up on my catwalk. Probably, an alarm or a fault detection system had been tripped. When I’d appeared in the globe, I’d been given away. I was glad I’d been able to get out before this squid arrived.
I watched the creature quietly. It circled the globe twice, maybe wondering where I’d gone. Then I watched as it went over instruments and picked up what looked like a cable.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw the connector on that cable. It was a match to the one I had on my suit. It had to be a power cable. There were more of them, too, I hadn’t noticed before. They were laying on the deck both inside and outside the fishbowl I’d teleported into.
Would coupling with one of these alien cables permit me to teleport home? Or would I just fry, or maybe alert yet more squids? I had no idea.
The
insanity of this adventure was beginning to sink in for me. I was in the middle of the enemy, up proverbial shit-creek without anything resembling a paddle. Hell, I didn’t even have a raft.
Something grabbed my leg about then.
I’ve had my leg grabbed by any number of beings, and I consider myself to be something of an authority on the topic, if I do say so myself. This grab was powerful as they went. It was also fast and mean. This combination, plus the way my leg was being constricted with terrific force, clued me to the fact I was in mortal danger right quick.
Aiming down my leg, I fired at the thing grabbing me. A tentacle smoked and withdrew, slapping angrily at the water and the catwalk I was lying on.
There were two dark hulks moving around down there now—I could see them both. They were circling like pissed-off sharks.
Glancing this way and that, I didn’t see anywhere to run. Above my head was a tangle of copper and gold wires. Under the catwalk was a soupy pool with at least two angry squids in it.
I couldn’t stay where I was, I knew that. It would only be a matter of time before they grappled me and dragged me into the water. Alternatively, they might decide to go get weapons and kill me.
For the first time in my life, I knew what it must have felt like to be a bird caught inside a house full of panicked humans. They were down there, circling and trying to figure out how to rid themselves of an uninvited pest.
Deciding it was now or never, I touched the dial on my chest. Gritting my teeth, I switched it to the first notched position on the list.
Nothing happened. The suit didn’t even hiccup. It had to be out of power.
Cursing, I realized there was only one thing left to do. I rolled off the catwalk and splashed into the water. I drifted down in that tiny prison to the center of the globe again.
It was a big gamble, sure, but I’d reasoned something out. There, at the bottom of that small spherical tank, I found a power coupling. Just what I needed for my escape. I rammed it home on my suit, finding that it fit perfectly. At least it was tighter than the jury-rigged job Lisa and her team had cooked up back on Earth.
Squid tentacles slapped against the globe all around me. They made sucking motions and the water churned out there. I waved at them.
“Creature,” said a voice in my ear.
Startled, I almost dropped my laser pistol. One of the squids had an instrument in his tentacle. Some kind of translation device? I knew my suit had a radio transceiver, but I hadn’t considered the possibility they’d want to talk.
My hand went to the dial on my chest again. I’d already decided where I was going. My plan was simple. I’d switch the dial to the first setting again, and pray it took me home.
What the hell else could I do? If the second setting took you back to your destination, wouldn’t the first setting take you to the targeted destination? It only made sense to me—but then, I wasn’t a space-squid.
“Stop beast!” the squid said. “Speak with me! I command it!”
The big bastard was bleeding in the water. I could tell it must be the one I’d shot. These guys didn’t seem armed, fortunately. If I had to guess, I’d say they were the cephalopod equivalent of our tech team. They were nerds, not fighters. Therefore, they were reluctant to engage with me and fish me out of my bowl with their bare tentacles.
I almost twisted the dial as the suit hummed and charged up. I came very, very close, but I hesitated.
One of my core flaws, besides being a little untruthful at times, was an overdeveloped sense of curiosity. What was it this squid wanted to say?
“What do you want, you damned Squid?” I demanded.
The creature squirmed in the water. “You must obey me. You are my captive. I claim you as is my right. You will be unharmed by me or any of the other members of my squad.”
This was classic squid-talk. They were slavers, and they weren’t shy about it. They salivated over a good capture. They wanted humans like me to impress their friends as much as anything else. Sometimes, that could be used as a bargaining chip to the advantage of a wily human.
“What if I agree to become your property?” I asked. “What’s in it for me?”
“Pride and glory. You will be gifted with the blissful certainty that you’re the proud servant of a genius-level intellect. If you behave in an exemplary fashion, I may even breed you to create a marketable line of chattel.”
“Sounds pretty good,” I said. “Just tell me where I am, and I’ll sit and roll over if you want.”
“Your remarks alarm me as they indicate a low intelligence factor. My estimation of your value has fallen significantly.”
“Yeah, I love you too. Just tell me where this place is? What planet?”
The squid twitched. He turned toward his comrade, who was hanging back a good distance from the tank.
“The beast is a simpleton,” the first one said. “All is lost. An imagined fortune has been squandered by fate, all within a span of seconds.”
“You going to answer my question or not? I’m beginning to think you’re the half-wit.”
A tentacle slapped at the globe, and I felt it shake. If that limb had hit me, it might have broken my collar bone.
“Impudent creature! I will agree to your bargain now, but only so that I can punish you properly. This vessel is named Force, and you are still within the star system of the humans. Now slave, submit yourself to me!”
Solemnly, I twisted the dial to the first notch.
Nothing happened.
The squid began shaking. He gestured toward his companion, who I hadn’t been paying much attention to.
There he was, back there, in the murky corner of the chamber about a dozen meters off. He had something grasped in a coil that dangled from his suckers.
With a cold feeling, I recognized the object: it was a power coupling, just like the one I’d attached to my suit.
They’d disconnected the power line that led to the globe, and I was helpless inside their glass cage.
-18-
The second science-squid was swimming languidly toward the glass now, letting that unplugged cable flutter in his grip. He wanted me to see just how truly screwed I was.
What had possessed me to taunt and argue with these squids? Why hadn’t I found a power source then twisted the dial and ported out of this trap about two seconds after I’d arrived?
I wasn’t sure what the answers to my questions were, but I thought my initial hesitation might have been due to the fact I still had no idea where I would jump to if I tried the dial again. Even if I’d been certain, however, I had to admit to myself that I might have teased the squids anyway. It’s just in my nature.
“We have a tiny fish on our home planet,” the second squid said as he approached and applied a rippling row of purplish suckers to the glass. I could tell he was the one talking because he’d reached over to press one of his many tentacle tips onto an instrument on his belt. The other squid had done the same when he was being translated.
“We like to eat these tiny fish very much,” he went on, “but now there are none left in the wild ocean. They reside only in the small glass prisons of collectors and restaurants. You are just such a morsel to us, human.”
“So… you’re saying that I’m valuable to you guys, is that right?”
“Hmm,” said the first squid. “Slow-witted. It asks repeated questions on points that are already obvious. I am beginning to seriously question its resale value.”
“Of course it’s stupid,” said the second squid. “Why else would it have trapped itself in the middle of our lab?”
“You’re right. It would be best that we don’t allow prospective buyers to speak with the creature. They would certainly demand a price reduction.”
Their insulting conversation gave me an idea. I pushed off the floor and thrashed my way up to grab the upper lip of the large bowl again. Grunting, I pulled myself up and over, dropping into the chamber between them.
They both backed awa
y in alarm. I was pleased to see what I thought was a tiny bit of black ink swirling out of the second one.
“Ha!” I laughed. “Don’t soil yourself, squid. I’m not attacking. I surrendered, remember?”
“Put your weapon down!” demanded the first squid. He was clearly the braver of the two. “I insist you honor our agreement.”
It hurt, but I felt it was necessary to comply. I dropped my laser pistol. A tentacle shot out and snatched the gun away before it reached the bottom of the chamber.
Judging I probably wasn’t going to get a better opportunity to make my move, I did it right then. The scaredy-squid had let go of the power-coupling when he raced away, and the boss-squid was busy grabbing my pistol. That meant neither of them were in a good position to stop me.
Bending at the knees and groping, I found the power coupling on the bottom of the chamber. I plugged it into my suit and reached for the dial on my chest. This one was live, I could tell by the way my suit’s charging meter lit up.
The boss-squid didn’t like that. He lunged, slapping a half-dozen tentacles all over me. It was like being wrapped up in boa-constrictors. Instantly, I found breathing difficult. I coughed and wheezed.
“It’s trying to escape!” raged the squid. “Assist me!”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his chicken partner grab a sharp instrument. He swam back toward us, wary but determined.
“You are my property, human!” the grabby one said. “You will not evade your fate.”
With two tentacles wrapped around my right wrist, I was overpowered. Another tentacle reached for my left, but I was ahead of him there. I had a combat knife out. I cut that tentacle and the squid shivered, filling the water with a billowing dark cloud of ink and blood.
Dropping the knife, I reached for the dial again. I twisted it to the first position.
Everything changed. I was jumping. For a few seconds, I didn’t know if I should be happy or sad, but at least I was out of—
Then I felt something squeeze hard. Multiple somethings.
I couldn’t see the squid who’d apparently come with me, but I could sure as hell feel him. He was trying to crush me. My ribs crackled, and a few of them snapped. I’ve felt that sensation before, and it had never been a pleasant experience.